The Courage to Live On
by Studio 402
Summary: Asuka awakes from her comatose state after her battle with MP Evas only to find that all won't be the same again and her glorious piloting days are over. How are the Children going to cope with their new lives? (New chapter: Misato, by Random1377)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission. 

  
Rei-Shinji.cjb.net presents   
**A Studio 402 Production**   
_A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Fenrir, and Rei_Ikari_

  
**The Courage to Live On**

  
**Prologue:** A New Chance, A New Life 

_By Akodo Tim_

  
I'm screaming. 

I've never felt such agony before. The searing pain in my tortured body spreads into my entire being until it is all I feel, all I am. My world fills with blinding white light. After an eternity, the pain mercifully fades away. I keep screaming anyway; I don't remember when I finally stop. 

Gradually, other sensations make their way through the thick, clinging haze in my brain: a rhythmic beeping; dull soreness in almost every muscle in my body; a painful throbbing in my left eye and right arm. There's a horrible taste in my paper-dry mouth, as if something unpleasant had crawled in there and died along with its friends and family. Above it all, there's an overwhelming, crushing feeling of fatigue. I'm too exhausted to even open my eyes. 

In other words, I feel like shit. Or at least how Misato must feel first thing in the morning. 

"Water," croaks a weak, rasping voice. It takes me a second to realize who had spoken. 

My God, was that me? 

A soft hum fills my ears. I feel the bed tilt slowly as it moves my aching body into some semblance of a sitting position. I try to sit up on my own, but a gentle hand on my chest firmly pushes me back onto the mattress. 

Okay, okay, I get the hint. 

A gentle puff of air washes over my face as the mask that was over my mouth and nose is removed. I hear the faint sound of liquid being poured. The smooth, yet uneven surface of a styrofoam cup brushes against my fingertips; I grasp it and try to lift it to my parched lips. The same soft hands that held me down now help my shaking left hand raise the cup. I feel something hard, light, and sharp-edged against my mouth--a plastic straw. I eagerly wrap my lips around it and suck. The water is lukewarm, with a slight metallic flavor and an aftertaste that only chlorine and God knows what else they put into tap water these days can give it. 

It tastes like heaven. 

Seconds later, a wet rattling slurp announces that I've hit bottom. The cup is taken from me; I hear the sound of it being refilled before it is placed back in my hand. The straw presses against my lips again. 

"Thanks," I finally manage to whisper before I take another drink. 

"You are welcome." 

The soft, gentle voice cuts through the last of the drug-induced fog in my brain like a prog knife. I choke on the water and end up spraying a mouthful of it over the sheets in a most undignified manner as I realize who the voice belongs to. My eyes fly open--or rather, my right one does. 

Too late, I realize my mistake as a N2 mine detonates inside my head. I sink back down onto the pillow, groaning, as I screw my eye shut against the brightness of the room. Still, I had glimpsed enough in that split-second to know who was with me. 

Blue hair. Pale skin. Red eyes. 

Her. 

I groan again, and not just from the pain. Why did it have to be her? 

I open my eye a crack; the world slowly comes into focus as my vision adjusts to the light. She's still there, standing over me and holding the water pitcher. There's no hint of an expression on her face; I don't think she's moved a muscle despite the fact that I probably spewed all over her. 

Of all the people in the world, why does Wondergirl have to be the first one I see when I wake up? 

Unless... 

"I've died and gone to Hell, haven't I?" I moan. 

She blinks. "No," she replies simply. 

Figures. I hurt too much to be dead, anyway. I let out a weary sigh that seems to come all the way from the tips of my toes. 

Has it all come to this? Am I, the great Asuka Langley Sohryu, designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 and savior of Mankind, destined to be a broken cripple for the rest of my life, with the Commander's little windup doll as my nursemaid? 

My jaw clenches as the dull throbbing in my right arm flares into full-fledged agony in response. My whole body goes rigid as the pain spreads through me. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me suffer; I silently endure it and grit my teeth until it slowly subsides. 

One thing's for sure--when it comes to suffering, life has Hell beat, hands down. 

A feeling of wetness spreads over my left thigh as I lay there, trembling and panting. Without a word, Wondergirl reaches over and plucks the crumpled remains of my once-full cup from my shaking fingers and tosses it in the wastebasket next to the bed. 

Well, so much for being stoic. 

I take a look around the room now that the spots in front of my eyes have disappeared. Sunlight pours into the ward despite the heavy curtains drawn in front of the window; through the crack between them I catch a glimpse of skyscrapers against a brilliant blue sky. The faint murmur of traffic can be heard over the steady beeping of the EKG. 

Wait a minute. This isn't the infirmary. 

"Where the hell am I?" I ask weakly. 

"We are in the Tokyo-2 University medical center," she replies in that annoying, wooden voice of hers. "Do not worry. You are in excellent hands here." 

"Who says I'm worried-" I begin to say, then her words finally sink in. "Tokyo-2?" I repeat incredulously. 

She nods. 

This isn't making sense. "How long?" 

"You were transferred here six weeks ago." 

"Six _weeks_?" I lift my head from the pillow, ignoring the sensation of vertigo as I look her in the eyes. "You mean I've been out for a month and a half?" 

"Two months, actually. You were in the NERV infirmary for two weeks prior to your transfer." 

I try to whistle in disbelief, but my lips are too dry; I end up shaking my head instead. 

I glance to my right; my gaze follows the tubes snaking out from under the bandages wrapped around my arm. They wind their way upward to a metal stand holding a small collection of intravenous drip bags half-filled with liquids of various colors. A small, black box with a digital timer on its display--a dosage pump, I presume--lies in the middle of the tangle. 

"So," I ask as I absently scratch at the bandage wrapped around my left temple, "have the doctors said anything?" 

Wondergirl silently nods again, but avoids my gaze. She sits down on a folding chair by the side of the bed. 

"Well?" 

"You were critically injured in the battle--" 

"Well thank you, oh mistress of the obvious," I interrupt with a sneer. "Do you suppose you can be a little more specific?" 

She pauses for a moment, as if waiting for me to continue, then goes on as if nothing had happened. "You suffered extensive damage to your right capitate and lunate bones," she says clinically. "Your right ulna was shattered, while the radius suffered a compound fracture. You also sustained five cracked ribs, a punctured lung, internal hemorrhaging..." 

I begin to regret asking her for details as I listen to her rattle off my injuries one by one like some grotesque shopping list. No wonder I feel terrible; considering everything I had apparently gone through, I wonder why I wasn't dead after all. 

"...permanent loss of your left eye, a ruptured kidney which has since--" 

"Hold it." I interrupt her again. "What do you mean, 'permanent'?" 

She stares at me with that soul-burning gaze of hers. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a hint of sympathy in her eyes--not that I would ever need it from her, of course. 

"The doctors," she replies, "were unable to save your eye." 

My hand reaches up to gently touch the bandages on my face as the significance of her words sinks in. I can almost feel my world crumble around me while my fingertips caress the soft, cottony gauze. With only one eye, I have no depth perception. If that's the case... 

"It looks like my piloting days are over," I whisper softly. 

"Yes," she replies, "but not just for you." 

I blink in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" I ask, my eye narrowing. 

She looks at me straight in the eye and calmly, evenly, says five words that etch themselves forever in my memory: 

"The Evangelions have been destroyed." 

My mind reels; if my world was crumbling before, it's been completely, utterly obliterated now. I open my mouth to speak, to voice my surprise, pain and disbelief, but the only thing that manages to come out is a hoarse stutter. 

"Shinji?" I finally manage to squeak. "Is he...?" 

"He is fine." 

Relief washes over me at the news, only to be replaced by confusion a moment later. Why on earth should I be happy that he beat me--again? Why should I be glad that he's okay after leaving me hanging out to dry against those Evas? Why should I care about that boring, pathetic, perverted idiot at all? 

I don't know why, but I am. I do. 

"So," I say sarcastically, "how did Mister Invincible save the day this time?" 

"He did not." 

Now I'm really confused. "Then how...?" 

"It is a long story." 

I snort. "I'm not going anywhere." I grab another cup from the table and take a sip after she fills it from the pitcher in her hands. "Now," I say to her as I wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my hospital gown, "tell me everything." 

I lay back and listen as she does. 

To my credit, I interrupt her only a few times. She patiently answers some of my questions; for others, she has no explanation. After she finishes I sink back into the pillow, too stunned to speak. 

There's an awkward silence between us; I stare at the wall for a long, long time as I digest her tale. Finally, Wondergirl puts the water down and gets up from the chair. "I must go," she says. "I will inform the nurse that you need another set of sheets." She walks to the door and opens it. "Ikari-kun and Ibuki-san will be glad to hear that you are doing well." 

I can do nothing but simply nod in response. 

I look out through the gap between the curtains after she leaves. The sky has started to turn dark; the setting sun reflects off the skyscrapers outside and bathes them in rich amber light. 

I should be happy, shouldn't I? The Angels have been defeated. We won. Mankind has been saved. It's all over now. 

Thousands of people are milling about out there, heading to their families, lovers, or companions. How I envy them. How many of them have lost the first man they ever loved like I have? How many of them have woken up in a strange room in a strange city to find their life turned upside down--that they had lost their home, their mother for the second time, and their entire reason for living--all within the past eight weeks? 

A faint beep from the little box beside the bed heralds another dose of sedatives and painkillers. I feel the fog slowly creep back into my brain as they take effect; I don't bother to fight it. 

"No," I murmur to myself as my mind starts to go fuzzy, "it's not over by a long shot." 

I close my eye as weariness overtakes me again. 

"It's only just begun." 

I drift off into peaceful, foggy oblivion. 

*** 

**(Not) Author's Note:** (2003-12-02) 

So, what do you think? ^_^   
Well, since the author himself did say "I can't think of anything to say this time around. Maybe in the first chapter.", I'm sure you can draw at least two conclusions:   
First, there WILL be first chapter. (Yaay!)   
Second, there is no Author's Note in this prologue. (Okay, that's obvious.) 

Oh well, I guess it's up to me, an innocent bystander who happens to be their friend, to fill the void. This prologue is the beginning of the first project of "Studio 402", a fanfic writers group formed by A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Fenrir, and Rei_Ikari. "The Courage to Live On" is a multi-author Rei/Shinji fanfic, meaning the story will be written by several writers consecutively. Thanks to Syndikos in Rei-Shinji.cjb.net Forum for coming up with this idea. After some.. discussions about how it should be done, we finally could reach a general consensus and set our gears to start writing. This story can be found in my site "The Tales of Apartment 402" AKA "Rei-Shinji.cjb.net". New releases are posted in the forum first before going to the main site. Please go to the forum for all discussions regarding this story. 

That's all for now. See ya! ^_^ 

Ayanami-chan   
  



	2. Book 1 Chapter 01

_Disclaimer:_ Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission. 

  
Rei-Shinji.cjb.net presents   
**A Studio 402 Production **  
_A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Dennisud, Fenrir, and Rei_Ikari _

  
**The Courage to Live On **  
**Book One**

**Chapter One:** The Candle That Burns Brightest...

_By Akodo Tim _

  
"Despite the declassification of all relevant documents in 2025 under the Freedom of Information Act, the real motive behind the Japanese Strategic Self-Defence Force's attack on NERV's Third Branch in early 2016 still remains hidden amid countless layers of propaganda, accusations, and bureaucratic red tape. The conflicting evidence and testimony given during former NERV sub-commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki's trial in 2019 has done little to shed light on the matter.

What remains undisputed is the fact that the JSSDF forces, including three battalions of the JSSDF's First Army Division and three air support squadrons from Mishima, suffered heavy casualties in the attack. NERV casualties were in the neighborhood of 75 to 80 percent, with a large number of them being technicians and non-combatants. In addition, all eleven surviving models of NERV's top-secret Evangelion humanoid weapon series were lost and presumed destroyed in the battle.

Perhaps historians will never truly understand what happened within the Geo Front that day, as the individuals who played key roles in that incident are either dead, imprisoned, or are refusing to talk..."

- Aida, K., 2028. _The Political Aftermath of the Angel War and the Restructuring of the Japanese Strategic Self-Defence Forces_. Ph.D. thesis dissertation, Kyoto University.

* * *

The Second Child could only stare in morbid fascination as the pale shaft of light from the open doorway cut through the darkened room to fall upon the figure peacefully hanging from the ceiling. The body's bare feet dangled inches above the floor just above the broken remains of a discarded rag doll. The room was deathly silent; other than the pounding of her heart in her chest and the gentle whir of the air conditioning system, she heard nothing.

Then the body moved.

As Asuka watched, it slowly twirled around in a dance of death until she was looking at the blissful, contented features of her own face. She gasped as her double's eyes suddenly opened and fixed upon her. A sly grin spread across its face as the tattered hospital gown it had been wearing transformed into the bright yellow sundress she wore on the day she first met the Third Child.

"Do you want to be noticed?" it asked in a cruel, mocking whisper. "Do you wish to finally fulfil your destiny?"

The auburn-haired pilot could only nod dumbly in response.

"This is your chance," it said. Its smile grew wider before everything disappeared in a blinding white glare.

* * *

Asuka squinted slightly as sunlight poured through the newly formed hole that gaped over the remains of the Geo Front and washed over her face as she was rushed past the infirmary's shattered windows. The faint quiver in her eyelids went unnoticed by the two figures pushing her along. 

The swinging doors in the hospital corridor flew open one by one. The jarring impact of the gurney as it hit each one chipped away at the dark edges of her unconsciousness. Footsteps pounded a steady rhythm that echoed though the empty hallway as she was sped along. Her face showed no expression whatsoever as she lay on the gurney being pushed through the ward; her head rested peacefully on the pillow, nestled in the copper halo of her hair. Once in a while the thin, blue fabric of her gown rustled in the breeze of an air conditioning vent as they rushed by.

A bell chimed softly in the distance shortly after she felt the bed come to an abrupt stop. A pair of strong, gentle arms slid underneath her and gingerly lifted her off the mattress. Her nose caught the rich, oily aroma of leather mixed with the smell of makeup and the sweet, musky fragrance of perfume.

A woman was carrying her.

"Mama?" she murmured groggily.

The arms underneath her stiffened briefly. Asuka's eyes trembled again, then slowly opened. 

The feeble ruddy glow of emergency lights illuminated the cramped, Spartan interior of a service elevator. A young man wearing the tan uniform and red beret of a UN soldier stood with his back to her and faced the doors with an assault rifle in his hands. After another moment the redhead blinked and looked up into a pair of brown eyes on a lovely, careworn face. It took her a second to recognize the woman holding her. 

"M-Misato...?" she whispered.

The indigo-haired woman looked down at the teenager in her arms. The glint in her eyes clearly showed her concern despite the warmth of her smile. "Hello, Asuka," she said soothingly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Where am I?" 

A serious, stony look of determination quickly replaced Misato's grin. "We're on our way to the cages to get you into Unit 02," she replied tersely.

"What?" Asuka's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why?"

"We're under attack."

The redhead's eyes widened briefly before she lowered her gaze to the floor. An uneasy silence filled the elevator car.

"Do you mind if I put you down now?" Misato finally asked.

"Don't try and change the subject," Asuka grumbled. Still, she unhooked her knees from Misato's arm and allowed her guardian to set her down. The pilot flinched involuntarily and let out a small gasp as her bare feet touched the cold floor; she then took an uneasy step to the wall and sank to the floor against it.

The elevator came to a stop again after about a minute. The guard stepped out into the dimly lit passage, warily looked around, and quietly beckoned the two women to follow. Misato offered her hand to Asuka to help pull her to her feet.

"I don't need your help," Asuka muttered as she scowled and waved the proffered hand away. She slowly stood up, walked out of the lift, and took three steps before her legs wobbled and buckled underneath her. Misato caught her just before she collapsed to the floor. The redhead reluctantly wrapped her right arm behind her guardian's neck and leaned on her shoulder as they slowly made their way down the corridor under the guard's watchful eye.

"So," Asuka snarled, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice, "why didn't you just send Shinji instead? I'm sure he can handle anything the Angel can throw at us."

Misato shook her head. "It's not an Angel attacking--it's the JSSDF."

The redhead stopped in her tracks and stared at her guardian in disbelief. "Let me get this straight--the _Japanese_ are attacking us?" She rolled her eyes and threw her left arm up in the air. "What is with you people? Is there something in the water that makes you Japanese go nuts or something?"

Her ranting stopped abruptly as she realized something wasn't quite adding up. "Wait a second--what are you doing here if we're under attack?" she asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't you be at the command center?"

"I should be, but something more important needed my attention first."

"What on earth is so important to make you leave your post while..." Asuka's voice trailed off and her eyes grew wide as she realized what Misato was saying. She let her arm slide down from Misato's neck, then staggered to the wall and slid against it to the floor. Her head drooped in misery. "This is insane," she muttered as she stared at a spot between her bare feet. Her hair cascaded around her face, obscuring her electric blue eyes behind an auburn curtain. "I don't deserve it," she whimpered softly.

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't. What good is a pilot who can't synch with her own Eva? I'm nothing. I'm just a worthless piece of trash. You don't need me; you need Shinji. Hell, even Wondergirl-"

"Stop it! That's enough!" Misato cut in sharply. "Look at me!" When Asuka refused to meet her gaze, Misato knelt down, reached under the teen's chin with one hand, and tilted the redhead's face upward. "Look... at... me," she repeated firmly. 

Asuka kept her eyes on the floor.

Misato sighed. "What would your Kaji-san say if he saw you like this?"

Asuka's breath caught in her throat when she heard Kaji's name. She blinked once, twice, then finally raised her eyes and looked at her guardian's scowling face.

"What are you going to do?" Misato asked sternly. "Are you going to sit there, do nothing, and regret it for the rest of your life, or are you going to go to Unit 02 where it's safe... and have a chance at making a difference for all of Mankind like you've always wanted?"

The young pilot thought silently for a moment. "I don't know... things are different now," she replied dejectedly. "I've changed. Everything's changed."

"Have they?" Misato raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any idea why I personally came to get you instead of sending a squad over?"

Asuka sullenly shook her head.

"I'm here because I know that somewhere in there," she said as she poked the redhead in the chest, "is the Asuka who dove into an active volcano; the same girl who took on an Angel the size of an aircraft carrier. I'm so sure of it that I'm willing to risk my life on it." Anger and frustration flashed in Misato's eyes as she paused for a second. "I have faith in you. Kaji believed in you too. So does everyone in this whole stinking organization. Are you going to betray our trust and throw our lives away by just giving up?" She snorted derisively. "You know, if I felt you were really like that, I would have sent you back to Germany a long time ago."

Asuka's eyes lowered again as she thoughtfully chewed her lower lip.

The guard fidgeted and nervously cleared his throat. "Major?" he said softly. "We-"

Misato raised her index finger at him and nodded, but she never took her eyes off her charge. The steely glint in her eyes faded as her expression softened. "I know how hard your life's been," she continued softly, "especially lately... but life's all about falling down." Her hand gently moved up from Asuka's chin and cupped her cheek. "You have to realize that what's important is that no matter how hard you land you have to get back up, learn from your mistakes, and keep going."

"Why? What's the point?"

"I can't answer that for you. You'll have to find that out for yourself. And I'll be damned if I let those bastards kill you before you can find out."

The beeping from the radio clipped to Misato's belt interrupted her; worry flashed in her eyes as she stood up, grabbed it, and brought it up to her lips. "Katsuragi," she announced briskly.

"Major!" shouted a slightly distorted voice that was barely audible over the sounds of gunfire in the background. "This is Nakamura. We found him!"

"Shinji-kun!" she breathed in relief. "Is he all right? What's your situation?"

"We're in the east parkade, visitor level 4C, section 664. He's okay for now, but we're pinned down and Route 47 has been destroyed! We need backup or none of us are getting out of here!"

"Roger. Help's on the way." Frowning, Misato returned the radio to her belt. She brought out her pistol from inside her jacket and turned to the pilot still sitting on the floor. "Look," she said firmly, "there's no time to argue. You are going to the cages, and you're going to get inside your Eva whether you like it or not." She re-checked her ammunition clip and cocked her gun. "I'm sorry, Asuka. When this is all over, I'll to take you guys out for that steak dinner like I promised-"

The redhead cut her guardian off with a wave of her hand. "Will you get _going?_" she snapped. "You're wasting time."

"Right." Misato looked at the guard. "Make sure she gets to the cages in one piece." She spun on her heel and started down the passage when the guard nodded his acknowledgement.

"Misato!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked behind her. Asuka glared back at her, her arms folded in front of her chest. "If you let _anything_ happen to you or Shinji," the redhead growled menacingly, "I'll never forgive you." 

Misato paused for a second, then grinned back at her. "Thanks," she said dryly, "I love you too."

The darkness swallowed the violet-haired woman as she ran off down the dimly lit corridor; the rapid echoes of her footsteps faded away a few seconds later. Asuka watched her go with a troubled look on her face.

"Pilot Sohryu?"

Asuka turned her head toward the guard. His hazel eyes flicked about nervously, belying the grim, determined expression on his youthful face. He reached a gloved hand out to her. "Let's go," he said urgently. "There isn't much time."

After a moment's thought, Asuka quietly nodded and allowed him to pull her to her feet. 

* * *

An acrid cloud hung in the still air and stung Asuka's eyes as the pair moved slowly through the corridor. Cables dangled limply from exposed ceiling panels while the few lights that were still intact weakly flickered overhead, barely illuminating the scorched, pockmarked walls. Still, lifeless bodies, most of them wearing the khaki and white uniforms of NERV personnel, lay scattered on the floor in widening pools of blood. The redhead gagged at the sickening stench of smoke and burnt flesh and tried not to look at the mutilated bodies as they passed. For the hundredth time she was glad for the fact that she had nothing left in her stomach to purge.  
  
"You and your damn shortcuts," she muttered darkly to the man beside her as she leaned on his shoulder for support.

"It's not my fault the main passages on this level were sealed with bakelite."  
  
Asuka snorted, then quickly averted her eyes from the floor as they passed another corpse; her gaze briefly moved to the gore-splattered wall above it before she screwed her eyes shut against the ghastly image. She nearly slipped as her bare foot landed in a warm, sticky puddle. Gulping, she shuddered and fought back another wave of nausea as she felt the tacky wetness and shapeless bits of something ooze between her toes.

"Are we there yet?" she asked in a weak, quavering voice.

"Almost."

"That's what you said ten minutes ago."

"The elevator isn't far." The guard nodded at the passage ahead of them as they came up to a junction. "Just down this hallway, around the corner, and we're there."

"Well, finally! I was beginning to-"

Asuka shrieked as the chatter of automatic weapons fire and the sharp ping of ricocheting bullets interrupted her. Muzzle flashes winked brightly from the shadows of the darkened hallway to their right as the pair dashed through the intersection and landed in a tangled heap on the other side. Her breath exploded out of her body as the guard collapsed on top of her. He quickly rolled off the redhead, scrambled to a sitting position, and aimed his gun back down the passageway. A black-clad figure darted out from around the corner a second later only to crumple to the floor, twitching, as the guard snapped off a burst from his rifle.

Asuka shakily got to her feet and tugged at the guard's shoulder. He breathed inward sharply and emphatically shook his head.

"Come on!" she growled. "What's wrong with you? We've got to..." The words died on her lips when she saw why he wasn't getting up. Two dark splotches--one just below the guard's ribcage, the other on his shoulder inches away from her hand--gleamed wetly in the dim light.

"I'm not going anywhere," he hissed. "Go. Get to your Eva. I'll hold them off."

Asuka stared, unable to tear her eyes away from the growing stains on the tan uniform. "But-"

"MOVE!" he shouted. He roughly shook the young pilot's hand from his bloody shoulder and pushed her away with his elbow. After a moment's hesitation, she turned and ran down the passage as quickly as her trembling legs could carry her, leaving a fading trail of red smudges on the floor behind her. Gunfire echoed from the hallway again by the time she reached the elevator and desperately jabbed at the call button.

"Come on," Asuka whispered. "Come _on_..."

Deafening silence suddenly filled the corridor behind her as the shooting stopped. The doors slid open a moment later; she staggered into the lift and pressed the button for the cage level.

"THERE!" yelled a man's voice as the doors closed.

Instinct took over as Asuka huddled in the corner of the elevator car and threw her arms around her head. The thunder of gunfire drowned out her screams while a spray of bullets ripped through the doors of the descending lift. She squeezed herself into a little ball, trying to make herself as small as possible as jagged shards of shrapnel flew around her. Seconds later, the deadly storm stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

Asuka sat on the floor, sobbing and shaking, as the adrenaline slowly drained out of her system. She hesitantly uncurled her body and opened her eyes--and froze when she saw her hand.

It was sticky with drying blood.  
  
The redhead gasped and frantically checked herself to see if she had been hit. She breathed a shuddering sigh of relief when she realized that she wasn't hurt, but it caught in her throat when she remembered whose blood it was. She gulped as her mouth went dry.  
  
"If I'm worthless," she whispered to herself as her shell-shocked mind tried to comprehend what had happened, "then why did a complete stranger just die to save me?" 

The faint whine of the elevator's motor and the floor indicator's steady clicking were Asuka's only answers as she silently sat on the floor and stared at the darkening crimson stains on her fingers.

* * *

A low, steady rumble shook the massive form of Evangelion Unit 02 as the hydraulic lift underneath its feet guided it to the launch catapult. Inside the cramped confines of the entry plug, Asuka's copper hair swirled lazily about her head in the LCL while the familiar snugness of her red and black plug suit hugged her body. "Okay," she muttered uneasily, "I'm here. Now what?"

A window opened on her entry plug's holographic screen in response; Hyuga's spectacled face looked back at her. "The original plan was to launch you through Route 8," he replied. 

The redhead frowned. "That's under the lake."

Hyuga managed to look a little sheepish despite the situation. "That's right. Considering your past... er, challenges, we figured the best thing for you to do is to go there and sit tight until it's safe again."

Asuka looked at the bloody hand that was now covered by the elastic second skin of her plug suit. For an instant, she saw the guard's pain-filled hazel eyes as he shoved her away before turning back to face the advancing troops. She slowly clenched it and felt her nails bite into her palm as she closed her eyes and tried to shake the image from her mind. 

"Like hell I am," she growled. She relaxed her hand and opened her eyes again. "Hyuga-san, there's been a change of plan. Deploy me in front of Headquarters."

"Asuka," Hyuga protested, "are you sure about this?"

"How many people have we lost today?"

The technician blinked behind his glasses, taken aback by the unexpected question. "I don't know. They've taken the first four levels and are still advancing. The casualty reports are still coming in."

"Then guess!"

Hyuga's brow furrowed for a moment as he looked at something off-screen. "I'd say close to a thousand."

"In other words, a thousand people have already given their lives to protect us." The redhead gritted her teeth. "I won't be able to live with myself if I sit here and do nothing while everyone else dies trying to save me." 

"But what if your idea doesn't work? What if you can't synchronize?"

The pilot dismissed Hyuga's questions with a shake of her head before she had a chance to dwell on them. "We won't know unless we try, so don't bother me with details. Any word on Shinji yet?"

"Nothing yet."

"And Wondergirl?"

"There's been no sign of Rei anywhere."

Asuka gave a grave, tight-lipped smile. "Then I'm your only choice. Are you going to give me a chance to save everyone or not?"

Uncertainty briefly flickered across Hyuga's face as he weighed the options. His eyes closed for a moment; when he opened them again, a glint of determination shone behind the lenses of his glasses. "Give me a second to reprogram your launch route."

The young pilot nodded in response. "I hope your trust in me wasn't misplaced, Misato," she murmured to herself.

"What was that?" asked Hyuga.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "Let's do it." 

Hyuga's image grimly nodded, then winked out.

Asuka took a deep breath and let it out slowly, causing the LCL in front of her face to ripple as she exhaled. Her heart hammered a rapid, staccato rhythm in her chest. She tried to ignore the fluttering in the pit of her stomach while her shaking hands clutched the Eva's controls. "Evangelion Unit 02," she announced in a slightly trembling voice, "_launch!_"

* * *

A deep rumbling from deep within the ground quickly rose to an earthshaking crescendo as Unit 02 shot up from the launch tube and came to a bone-jarring halt in front of the shattered pyramid of NERV's headquarters. The crimson machine slouched slightly as the guide rails detached themselves from its shoulders and retracted back into the shaft.

Asuka watched the column of tanks and self-propelled missile launchers lined up along the far side of the lake aim their weapons at her while two squadrons of attack gunships moved toward her position and hovered just outside of their weapons range. The troops held their fire, waiting for her to make the first move.

"Well, if that's the way you want it..." she muttered. Asuka clenched her teeth and shoved the control levers forward.

"GO!" she shouted.

Nothing happened.

The redhead blinked in alarm and moved the controls again.

"I said, _go!_"

Unit 02 stood gleaming in the sunlight and ignored her command. Asuka's breath quickened and her eyes slowly widened as fear clutched at her heart in a chill embrace. "No..." she whispered. "Not again... not now!" The redhead worked her controls furiously. "Damn it," she cried, "don't do this to me now!"

Asuka felt cold beads of sweat form on her forehead even as they dissolved into the amber liquid surrounding her. She briefly considered retreating, but she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. There was too much at stake here. She had to keep trying, or else Misato, Hyuga, and everyone else would be killed, and everyone who had sacrificed themselves would have died for nothing. After all that had happened, that was one burden she did not wish to carry.

She looked back up at her display--and noticed with some surprise that the gunships that had been hovering warily nearby were flying away. Her puzzlement lasted for a few seconds until she remembered something: it was standard procedure for troops to retreat from something that had been targeted by heavy ordnance such as...

Asuka frantically scanned the sky above her, looking for contrails or the telltale silhouette of a heavy bomber that would herald the dropping of another N2 mine. Worry gnawed at her; although her Eva could survive a direct hit from one, it still didn't make for a pleasant experience.

A shrill beeping from her console caught her attention. She glanced at the warning message flashing on her display and saw the reason for the gunships' retreat. Three missiles, each of them easily twice as long as her Evangelion was tall, streaked toward her from the eastern edge of the crater above the Geo Front.

"Oh man, this is going to hurt," she muttered. "Move!" she urged, pulling at her command chair's butterfly switches again.

Unit 02 stubbornly defied her. The missiles grew closer, their thrusters giving them more momentum with every kilometer they covered.

"I'm sorry if I called you a doll before," she cried. "Just move, please!"

The Eva beneath her ignored her plea. Asuka kept pulling at the controls. "Come on, move!" she growled. "Move! _MOVE!_"

Unit 02 staggered back a few steps as one of the missiles crushed itself against its chest. The second one found its mark a split-second later and struck the Eva's midsection while the third smashed against the crimson giant's face. A tremendous explosion engulfed the Eva in billowing flames as all three missiles detonated simultaneously. The force of the blast sent it sprawling onto its back with an earth-shattering crash.

Stars exploded in front of Asuka's eyes as she was thrown back into her seat. She moaned and tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head; the ringing in her ears nearly drowned out the blaring of the warning claxons. "That's not what I meant," she groaned. She reached for her controls again and pulled on the switches. "Come on, get up."

Unit 02 silently lay on the ground.

"I said get up!"

Nothing.

"Stupid... lousy... piece... of... rotten... junk!" she spat; her fist pounded against the unyielding metal console in front of her with each word until she finally threw herself back into her seat, her anger and frustration spent. She closed her eyes and rubbed her aching hand, sighing wearily.

"No, it's not my Unit 02's fault," the redhead moaned brokenly to herself. "It's mine. I'm the junk here. Just like before." She took a deep, shuddering breath. 

The Second Child had stared Death in the face before, during her brief, heart-stopping plunge back down into the depths of Mount Asama. Back then, she was prepared to calmly resign herself to her fate. This time was different; there would be no sense of accomplishment in her final moments this time, no victory--only empty, bitter failure before a hopefully quick death. There was no hope for glory when the soldiers out there would finally come, cut open her precious Eva like some overgrown lobster, drag her out, and shoot her like a dog... if she was lucky. 

Asuka squeezed her eyes tighter. "I'm sorry, Misato," she choked, her voice falling to a whisper. "I tried."

Images of the carnage she saw in the twisted corridors came back to her again. Among the bodies lying in the passages this time was the slim form of a once attractive young woman, her blood barely noticeable against the remains of her form-fitting scarlet suit. Her face was frozen in an expression of pain and horror; her mouth gaped in a silent scream as her glazed, unseeing eyes stared off into the distance.

She would die alone and forgotten. A failure. The thought of that was far, far worse than the mere prospect of dying. Slowly, Asuka curled up into a ball and clutched her knees. "It's not supposed to end like this," she whimpered. "I don't want to die..."

She heard a voice from somewhere in the back of her consciousness, an unbidden memory from weeks before. The words echoed through her mind, much the same way as the soft, almost monotonous voice of the First Child echoed through the elevator the first time she had heard them:

"If you do not open your mind to her, your Eva will not move."

Asuka tried to ignore it. "I don't want to die," she repeated.

A gentle, sibilant whisper came from around her in response. "I won't let you die," it replied.

"Your Eva will not move..."

"I don't want to die..."

"Live honest, live strong," answered the whisper.

"If you do not open your mind..." repeated Rei's voice.

"I don't want to die..."

"Your Eva will not move..."

The First Child's voice was gone now, replaced by the soft, seductive words that now came from within her mind.

"I won't let you die..."

"Open your mind..."

"Live honest, live strong..."

Asuka clutched her head and screamed as the voice grew louder.

"Open your mind..."

"I don't want to die!"

"I won't let you die..."

"_Open your mind; I won't let you die_."  
  
Depression and doubt were blasted away by sudden understanding as the words fell upon Asuka like a hammer. In her mind's eye, she saw a hauntingly beautiful apparition in front of her, slowly reaching out toward her with a glowing hand. It tenderly ran its fingers through her hair and down the side of her face to lovingly caress her cheek. The radiance dimmed slightly; as it did, Asuka saw a gentle, smiling face surrounded by a halo of auburn hair. Her heart leapt in recognition.

"Mama!!" she cried joyfully.

Asuka's crystal blue eyes snapped open. The ghostly figure vanished from her sight, but it didn't matter; she could still feel it--her heart knew it was still there. She felt reborn, as if a tremendous weight had been removed from her very soul. For the first time in an eternity, she smiled with pure, genuine happiness.

The Eva's four eyes suddenly blazed with incandescent white fire. A blinding aura flashed around the fallen giant and erupted skyward in a cross-shaped explosion that rivalled the brilliance of the midday sun. The humanoid machine nimbly picked itself up from the ground and stood in all its terrifying glory, then turned toward the attacking troops and advanced on their position with a deep, primal howl.

The vehicles lined up along the lakeshore opened fire at the scarlet giant moving relentlessly toward them. Armor-piercing shells bounced harmlessly off the Eva's bindings while missile after howling missile streaked toward it and erupted in an impressive display of light and noise. Unit 02 calmly strode through the blossoming firestorm as if it was nothing more than a summer breeze.

A barrage of artillery shells flew wide of Asuka's Eva and exploded around the small concrete building that housed its umbilical cable connection; blue-white sparks flew into the air as the structure was reduced to smouldering rubble. A loud, piercing tone sounded in Asuka's ears while the power timer flashed urgently and began its countdown.

"Shit!" she growled.

Unit 02 reached around behind it and grabbed the cable's power coupling. It separated from its port with a puff of smoke as the explosive bolts that were holding it in place detonated.

"You think that's going to stop me, you assholes?"

The severed cable whistled through the air as the Eva whipped it around in a deadly arc. It sheared through a gunship before Asuka let go to send it flying into the lake.

"Even without the umbilical cable, I still have my AT Field!"

A flickering golden wall suddenly appeared in front of Unit 02; one aircraft exploded as it was sliced neatly in two while another slammed into the barrier before its pilot had a chance to change its course.

"Mama will protect me!"

Another gunship strafed the scarlet giant with a salvo of rockets, then peeled off to line itself up for another pass.

"I am _not_..."

It wasn't fast enough; the Eva lunged for the retreating craft and grabbed it by the tail. The gunship's engines screamed in protest as it tried to break free.

"Going..."

The crimson titan swung the helpless aircraft at another one; the tail section broke off in its hands as both vehicles exploded in balls of flaming debris.

"To surrender..."

The severed tail section went hurtling through the air and smashed into a pair of armored personnel carriers.

"To the likes..."

Another gunship fired a volley of rockets into Unit 02's back; the Eva's leg swung around in a roundhouse kick that sent the craft spiralling down to the ground.

"Of..."

The humanoid machine yanked a tree out of the ground and hurled it at the last gunship; the aircraft erupted in a blinding orange fireball a split-second after the tree speared it.

"YOU!!"

The remaining soldiers retreated as Unit 02 stood in the middle of the billowing clouds of smoke and flames like a demon from the depths of Hell. Asuka watched them go with a triumphant smile on her face.

"_Yes!_" she breathed in relief and jubilation. "I did it!" She closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the sky. The brilliant rays of the afternoon sun touched her face and filled her vision with a warm, reddish glow. "I did it! _We_ did it!" The ecstatic pilot opened her eyes. "We did it, Mama! We..."

Asuka's voice trailed off as the nine snow-white winged figures silhouetted against the azure sky overhead grabbed her attention. She stared at them, her celebration forgotten, as they lazily drifted down to the blasted remains of the Geo Front.

"The Eva series?" she whispered, awestruck. "They've been completed?"

The faint crackle of static and the sound of a familiar voice through the comm channel brought her thoughts back to earth.

"Asuka!" called Misato. "How are things going up there?"

The redhead smirked. "Just finished cleaning out the attic." She glanced back up at the circling machines overhead. "Why was the rest of the Eva series deployed? We've got them on the run!"

Misato's voice tensed with urgency. "There's no time to explain. Listen to me--you have to destroy all of the Evas without any mistakes. I'll be sending Shinji-kun to help you soon."

"_What!?_" Asuka shrieked in surprise. "All nine of them? With no mistakes?" she repeated. "That's easier said than done, Misato. Have you forgotten you're talking to a convalescent here?"

"Sorry. It's not like we have a choice."

"Yeah, well, just make sure Shinji gets off his can, into his bigger can, and gets up here."

"I will. Good luck."

The comm went silent. Asuka watched as the behemoths gracefully touched down with thunderous claps of their feathered wings. Dust and debris rose from the ground in choking, billowing clouds while trees, rubble, and retreating soldiers alike were crushed beneath their feet. 

She looked at the timer and shook her head. "Twenty seconds apiece," she muttered under her breath. "I always said that a fight should be clean, elegant, and without waste, but this is ridiculous."

The angelic wings retracted into the Evas' bodies as they formed a circle around Unit 02; their massive, double-edged blades glinted in the sunlight while jagged, feral grins appeared on eyeless faces. Asuka's lips curled into a sneer as they slowly advanced on her.

"Looks like it's just you and me against the world, eh Mama?"

The thrum reverberating through the entry plug intensified as if in eager anticipation. A wicked gleam shone in the Second Child's eyes.

"Bring it on," she snarled.

Asuka charged at the closest Eva with an inarticulate scream of fury.

* * *

  
**Author's Notes:** (2004-01-03)

It's hard for me to find the words to express my feelings about working with everyone on this project. I've only been reading fanfiction for four months (and writing for three), so the feeling I got when I signed up for a chance to be working with a group of such talented writers is... well, indescribable. I hope I don't disappoint. ^_^  
  
With regards to Ayanami-chan's little note at the end of the Prologue: she's definitely not as innocent a bystander in all this as she would like you to believe. Frankly, I don't think it would have come together at all without her. Not only has she put all the hard work into her site and in the forum, but she's also done a bang-up job on the final editing, especially in keeping us straight on the honorifics. She's also given us valuable input in helping us hammer out a workable storyline. So... thanks.

Anyway, about the story: the chapter's title comes from the old adage, 'the candle that burns brightest burns shortest'. Kind of fitting considering what happens to Asuka, isn't it?

In case you were wondering about the switch in the writing style, we decided to have the Prologue and Epilogue written in the first person, with the rest of the fic written in the third. So don't worry; we won't do it again for quite a while if we can help it.

As some of you may have guessed, "Courage" is going to be written round-robin with each of us taking one of the characters and writing a chapter from their point of view. As you can see, I got Asuka and got to write the first chapter since it seemed to be the most logical choice plotwise.

Now I'm going to step aside and give the spotlight to Fenrir, who will... well, that would be telling now, wouldn't it? ^_^ 

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me this time around. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in a few chapters!

~ Akodo Tim  



	3. Book 1 Chapter 02

_Disclaimer:_ Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission. 

Rei-Shinji.cjb.net presents   
**A Studio 402 Production**   
_A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Dennisud, Fenrir, and Rei_Ikari_

**The Courage to Live On  
Book One**

**Chapter Two:** The Guilt That Carried Him Forward...

_By Fenrir_

  
Quiet reflection was something that normally came to the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, but as he walked through the dark corridors of NERV, chaotic images that were burned into his memory started to resurface. Images of blood freely flowing out of Unit 01's hand after killing someone he thought of as a close friend, images of Unit 00 blowing up right in front of him, images of Unit 02 falling as an Angel attacked it... 

Despite his feeble attempts at trying to blame the Angels or his father, he came to realize that he was at fault. He didn't do anything right, and because of that, people he cared for were being hurt. 

The dark halls mirrored his dismal mood and the shadows accepted the fact that he was useless. His eyes wandered around as he took step after step, not caring if he didn't have a destination in mind. Besides, it wasn't like somebody cared about him. 

He didn't even care about himself, so why would other people try to accept him? 

The commander's son was an outcast. No matter how hard he tried, he always came up short, and when he did do something right it ended up going wrong. He often found himself wanting to run away again, but he would still be in the same situation. 

He would still be walking without a place to go. 

Suddenly alarms started to go off, lighting the halls with red flashing lights, but the blue-eyed pilot continued walking despite the fact that he was probably needed. He was tired of fighting, and he didn't care about dying any more. 

Shinji slowly crawled under the stairs and brought his knees to his chest as the annoying alarm served as a reminder of the fact that he was useless. 

The thoughts that he held back somehow returned and continued to haunt the boy no matter how much he tried to dismiss the painful memories. 

He wanted Kaworu to be here so he could have someone to talk to, but the Angel had asked him to take his life, stating that it was because Shinji himself deserved to live. Shinji could still remember how it felt to crush the Angel, and the sickening splash the bloody mess made. 

He wanted Asuka to make fun of him because he was too weak to save her. She called for him but he sat in the entry plug like a fool, just because his father ordered that he couldn't be released. Shinji pulled his knees closer to his chest as he recalled that the auburn-haired girl had a perfect reason to hate him, and being forgiven was out of the question. 

Sadly the list went on and Shinji couldn't find an end to it. He failed Touji since he was unable to help his friend when he needed help the most, he failed his friends because they put so much faith in him, and he felt he failed everyone simply because he was tired of fighting. 

Not to mention Rei... he wasn't sure if it hurt more knowing that she died for him or knowing that she hardly remembered him. 

The boy sighed, "It doesn't matter anymore..." 

Shinji laid his head on his knees as the blaring alarm continued to go off. He honestly wanted to run away, but he accepted the fact that it wouldn't do him any good when he returned to NERV to fight the 14th Angel. 

Besides, it wasn't like being anywhere else would be better. 

It didn't matter though. He could stay here and nobody would bother him. If he stayed here no one would find him, and if they did manage to find him he wouldn't go. The darkness accepted the pilot and Shinji greeted the darkness with a shallow sigh. 

The shadows around the young man did little to change his mood, but the darkness in his heart once again started to devour him little by little. The depression the teenager constantly fought also started to fill his mind, but this time Shinji welcomed it along with the darkness. 

Trying to stop himself from feeling guilty or sad was a losing battle that the boy wouldn't even try to fight anymore. 

Someone suddenly reached out and roughly grabbed him by the arm, "Come on!" The man urged as he dragged the boy from under the steps, "We have to get out of here." 

The tan colored uniform and red beret indicated the man was obviously a part of NERV, but the sub machine gun that was strapped over his shoulder certainly made it known that he wasn't simply a technician. 

"Get him and let's go!" Another man dressed in the same attire ordered as he aimed his gun at the corner and nervously waited to see if he needed to pull the trigger. 

"Just grab the damn kid!" Someone else demanded from behind the guy in front of him. 

"I'm trying, Nakamura!" The soldier quickly nodded as he let go of his gun so he could handle Shinji with two hands. The man's brown eyes were set ablaze with the rage he held behind them as Shinji tried to move away again, "I said com-" 

Blood splattered and stained Shinji's shirt as the man suddenly slumped forward and fell to the ground. The soldier fell to his knees and hit the floor that was already being covered by the blood coming out of his neck. 

As the boy wiped the man's blood off of his face, gunfire erupted on both sides of him. 

Bullets whizzed by and the corridors were lit up with the light that came from the guns being fired. It was in that white light created by gunfight that Shinji saw the image of a dying man directly in front of him. 

The blaring red light of the siren and sporadic white flashes of light combined with the ear splitting sound of the alarms and exchange of gunfire created the definition of chaos. 

After a few seconds the exchange of fire stopped, and the outcome of the small but fatal gunfight wasn't well received by those that survived. More bodies were on the floor, and the air was thick with the sound of people exchanging fire as the two sides took cover as they were trained to do. 

"Damn!" One of the NERV's soldiers exclaimed as he looked at Shinji standing directly in the center of the newly created battlefield, "We have to secure the third!" 

It was the eye of the storm and the other side of it was quickly approaching. In many more ways than one this wasn't simply a standoff, but a war between two opposing sides. 

During times of war, no one cared if heroes existed and medals didn't matter. The one who acted was the one who won. 

Gunfire erupted once more, only this time it was one-sided. NERV's forces unloaded on the remaining JSSDF soldiers and held their ground until someone managed to get the third child. The second a hand was placed on the kid, a man lifted the radio to his mouth and switched it on. 

"Major!" The man yelled into the speaker as he nervously waited for the soldiers to counter-attack, "Major, come in!" 

"Katsuragi," The woman announced quickly, sounding as if she was already pre-occupied with something. 

The attack the man was expecting finally happened as he pressed the radio closer to his face, "Major! This is Nakamura. We found him!" He could hardly hear himself over the gunfire, but prayed that she could hear his words as the men around him started dropping at an increasing rate. 

"Shinji-kun!?" The woman sighed in relief, "Is he all right? What's your situation?" Her voice sounded a bit distorted, but the man heard her despite the battle raging on in front of him. 

"We're in the east parkade, visitor level 4C, section 664. He's okay for now, but we're pinned down, and Route 47 has been destroyed! We need backup or none of us are getting out of here!" 

"Roger. Help... way." 

"Shit!" The man threw the radio away in frustration. The signal was already breaking up, and even if she did manage to gather more people here, they wouldn't be able to hold the position. 

The sight that greeted his eyes when he looked up caused a look of hopelessness to replace his determined expression.

Most of the men were already dead or dying, and the only one left standing was himself. As he reached for his pistol, his eyes turned to the kid who somehow had had enough brains to crawl back under the staircase, even though it wouldn't do him any good in the long run. 

Despite the fear that caused his hand to shake as he lifted the handgun up and took aim, the man managed to form a slight smile. He was a soldier... this was what he got paid for. 

The pilot watched as the man fired and was shot at in return. He silently gave witness, watching as Nakamura winced when the bullets came into contact with his bulletproof vest, finally crumpling to the ground as the spray of bullets reached his head. 

Shinji didn't even bother to say anything when he felt the cold metal of a gun dig into his temple a few minutes later. 

"Pilot confirmed." A man dressed in all black said as he spoke into a receiver while more men appeared behind him with the same attire. "Yes sir." The man said as he acknowledged his order. 

Was this going to be the end of his life? 

Seconds slowly ticked away as he waited for the man to squeeze the trigger. It was during those tense seconds that Shinji wondered if he deserved to die like this, since he was too weak to help his friends when they needed him the most. 

The muzzle of the gun imbedded itself deeper into the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01's skull. "Don't blame me, kid." 

The sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the hall as a body slumped to the ground, and was quickly followed by another shot. 

Shinji looked up as the man lifted the gun off of his head and turned it towards the person charging towards him. The Major was moving so fast that she was almost a purple and red blur when she collided with the soldier, sending both of them into a wall. 

The soldier, who was trained to get out of situations like these, nearly gasped as the end of a gun appeared under his chin. Misato gave the man a grim smirk before she spoke, "Don't blame me either." 

As soon as Misato finished her 'handiwork' she picked up the receiver that had fallen out of the soldier's hand when she slammed into him. The Major quickly switched it on and listened as a woman informed the soldiers that the purple one had been found and that the red one had been launched. 

"Shit, they're talking about the Evangelions." Misato cursed as she dropped the receiver and grabbed Shinji's hand, "They are trying to stop you from getting to Unit 01! We have to hurry, Shinji-kun." The major said as she tugged on Shinji's arm only to discover that he wasn't cooperating. 

"Leave me alone, Misato-san..." 

"What are you talking about!? We have to go or we are going to die." The woman yelled as she yanked his arm. She understood that the boy had gone through a lot, and she honestly felt sorry that things were happening this way, but she wouldn't accept the fact that he was just going to let all those things that had happened to him be in vain, "Get up! I said get up, Shinji!" 

He turned away as the woman tried to drag him, "I don't care anymore... I don't want to do anything..." 

Misato released his hand as she bent over and faced Shinji, "Are you saying that everyone should die just because you don't want to do anything?" She asked with venom in her voice. 

Shinji adverted his eyes, "I-I didn't say that." 

"Then do something about it!" The raven-haired woman yelled. "What is staying here going to do? If you can help then do something, and if you can't, do the best you can do." 

The Major once again grabbed Shinji's arm, "Do what you can while you are still alive," Misato turned only to see him resisting. "You can die afterwards." 

* * * 

Thankfully, the two of them safely made it to the car even though they happened to encounter some soldiers on the way, but as the woman looked in her rear view mirror at the pilot, she accepted the fact that she was going to have more trouble than just dealing with the JSSDF. 

"They are trying to start Third Impact, Shinji-kun." The woman solemnly spoke as they drove towards the Evangelion cages. 

The guilt-ridden boy didn't say anything and kept staring out the window. He honestly found himself not caring what happened. 

"Shinji-kun, when it comes down to it... we all make mistakes," Misato's grip on the steering got tighter as the right words came to mind, "Sometimes people make the same mistakes over and over and can't stop making them... but if someone puts enough effort forth they can do anything." 

The woman sighed, "I know you feel bad, Shinji-kun... we all do, but since we are alive we will continue to live no matter how bad it gets. I just want you to realize that." 

Seeing that Shinji wasn't going to add to the conversation, Misato choose to speak herself, "I... I made a lot of mistakes, Shinji-kun. I-I couldn't help any of you when you needed me the most and even now, even when I am trying my best, people are still dying." 

Misato turned and looked at the boy for a brief moment, "I know it might sound strange, but I'm asking you to help me, Shinji-kun. You are your own person and I can't make you pilot. You have to make that choice yourself." 

"If you do choose to fight... I need you to destroy the Mass Production series." 

That statement ended the one-sided conversation and Misato grabbed the radio from off the passenger seat. She turned it on and hoped she could reach the girl from here, "Asuka, how are things going up there?" 

The radio buzzed for a moment and then the voice of the red-haired pilot came out of it, "Just finished cleaning out the attic," the girl paused for a moment, "Why was the rest of the Eva series deployed? We've got them on the run!" 

"Asuka..." Shinji muttered and turned his attention back towards the window as guilt left a bad feeling dwelling inside of him. 

"There's no time to explain. Listen to me; you have to destroy all of the Evas without any mistakes. I'll be sending Shinji-kun to help you soon." 

"What!?" Misato could easily hear the surprise in the girl's voice, "All nine of them? With no mistakes?" 

Asuka paused as she thought about the situation some more, "That's easier said than done, Misato. Have you forgotten you're talking to a convalescent here?" 

Misato sighed as she saw the path up ahead. When they got across the catwalk they would be at the Evangelion's cages, "Sorry. It's not like we have a choice." 

"Yeah, well, just make sure Shinji gets off his can, into his bigger can, and gets up here." The major could almost picture the girl with the traditional smirk on her face. 

"I will. Good luck." 

With that, Misato turned off the radio and stepped on the brake, causing the car to slide towards the large door. She took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, checked her gun, and exited the car, "From here we have to walk, but it's not that far." 

Thankfully, Shinji got out of the car on his own power, but still didn't look better than he had before. The blood on his shirt had been a cause for concern for the woman, but when she noticed that it wasn't his she was even more shocked. He had, of course, killed and watched things be destroyed, but actually having people die in front of you with that look in their eyes was something entirely different... 

"Shinji-kun," Misato called out his name, and the guardian of the boy didn't speak again until she was sure she held his attention. 

When no reply came from the pilot, the raven-haired woman placed the gun back in her jacket and moved closer to the boy. "Let's go." Misato said as she grabbed his wrist and made her way towards the closed door.   
However, before she opened it she took the safety off her gun. 

* * * 

Time was everything. 

Seconds possessed power that could make things seem to last for an eternity, and hours could last for but an instant, but it was the few minutes it took to get to the center of the catwalk that defined everything. 

Peace was useless. 

Peace was only sought after because people feared pain, but without pain the happiness that could only be found in peace would not be worth the hardships people survived to attain it. Thus, people needed violence in order to enjoy, and people needed happiness to be sad. It didn't take long for violence to break out and, of course, the violence was fought with violence. 

Death was always waiting. 

Life was precious, but so was death. Some needed to fall so others could get up, and people needed to grieve so others could be happy. Death accepted all and returned nothing. Soldiers fell dead as bullets pierced their helmets and went into their skulls. 

"Run!" The woman screamed at the boy as she grabbed his collar and pulled him, firing on the JSSDF soldiers below them. She hit some of them, but when the others returned fire their presence was hardly missed. 

The sub machine guns set off a brilliant light as the soldiers used them to fire at the pair. Not having enough time to be gentle about it, Misato forcefully pushed the boy onto the catwalk and laid on top of him as bullets bounced off steel. 

Misato flinched when one of the bullets ricocheted off the rail and grazed her arm, "They have us pinned down." 

As she thought about how she was going to get out of this one, the gunfire ended and she could hear the retreating footsteps of the soldiers. Despite the fact that it was odd, Misato decided that she would think about that later as she helped the commander's son to his feet, "Are you okay, Shinji-kun?" She asked as she started to walk towards the elevator with him in front of her. 

A slight nod reassured the woman of his safety, but the look on his face seemed to say that something was wrong, "What is it, Shinji-kun?" 

"You're bleeding..." 

"It's nothing," she shook her head as they made their way to the elevator, "We just have to think about getting to Unit 01 now." 

The woman pounded on the elevator's control panel with the butt of her gun. "Shinji-kun... you have to help Asuka." 

Silence was his only reply. 

"You can't depend on her to fight for everyone alone, Shinji! You have to help her." 

"I don't want to..." The boy mumbled as he stood with his back to the major. "I don't want to fight anymore." 

Misato turned her attention away from the elevator, "Shinji, you have-" 

"I don't have to do anything!" Shinji shouted as he interrupted her, "I'm tired, Misato-san! I told you already! Y-You just don't understand!" 

She slapped him. The woman was honestly sick of his attitude. 

Both of them stared at each other in stunned silence until one of them was bold enough to break it. 

"No, you don't understand, Shinji-kun," her voice held a tint of subdued anger as she lowered her hand, "Everyone is tired. We are doing our best to survive this and move on with life!" 

The ding of the arriving elevator ended the brief conversation, and Misato slightly pushed Shinji into it as she stumbled in herself. Sometimes there was nothing wrong with being selfish, since everyone was at least a little bit selfish even if they didn't admit it, but it wasn't the fact that Shinji was selfish or anything of the sort that bothered the woman. 

It just made her angry that he had the power to stop something but didn't want to. 

If he didn't help the Third Impact had a good chance of occurring. The situation was almost amusing; for all she knew Shinji probably would choose to have his individuality taken away... 

"Shinji-kun... what do you like doing?" She figured she might as well ask since she never knew. 

Misato leaned on the wall as her hope in the boy began to fade. As she carefully watched the brown-haired pilot standing in the corner, she finally began to accept that it was a mistake to depend on Shinji. 

'Ha, like he was going to answer after you hit him... Way to go, Misato.' The woman thought as she squeezed her wound. 

"Being with my friends..." 

"Huh?" His guardian murmured in surprise. 

"I really did, Misato-san... I didn't mean for any of these things to happen," Shinji paused as he searched for the right way to voice his feelings. "I don't mind if they hate me now though." 

"If they are your friends they won't hate you." 

"They should..." 

"Why?" 

"I couldn't help them..." Shinji just stood there and said it out loud, and he would say it again if he had to. He wasn't unlucky or anything like that, he just didn't do anything. 

He could have refused to kill him, he could have broken free, and he could have made it in time, but he just didn't. 

"You need to stop lying to yourself, Shinji-kun," Misato sighed, "You know you couldn't do anything, but you just want to blame yourself out of guilt. You want them to hate you for the same reason." 

She walked to the pilot and wrapped her arms around him. In a different situation Misato would have laughed as Shinji, but this one was far too serious, "You're just like me... we want to help so many people, but we can hardly help ourselves." 

He didn't say anything as the woman hugged him, but he appreciated it all the same. 

"So many things have to be in vain... It's already too late to tell them sorry, but you do what you can." Misato's embrace started to get tighter as she went on, "I didn't mean to ask so much of you, Shinji-kun... you-" 

"I'll do it..." 

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened and Shinji bolted out of the room, leaving the woman behind as he ran towards Unit 01. 

She jogged to catch up with the pilot, but knowing that he was going to get in Unit 01 was reason enough to make her thankful. It wasn't long before she was just a few feet behind Shinji, but the sight in front of him looked grim. 

The woman nearly lost her balance as she watched the Evangelion break free of the bakelite it was encased in and shoot out an arm, which Shinji quickly hopped over the rail and got onto. 

  
"He's going to make it in time..." No sooner than she said the line, her radio started to beep and the woman turned her attention away from Shinji's entrance into the Eva. Misato pressed a button and the alarmed voice of man flowed out of the speaker, "Major, Doctor Akagi has escaped." 

"Huh how?" Misato asked completely puzzled. 

"When she was temporarily freed to prevent the Magi takeover." Makoto cleared his throat, "We just found the guard dead." 

"Do you have any idea where she went? We might need her help!" 

"Well-" 

"Never mind," Misato flicked off the radio as a thought suddenly came to mind, 'I think I might have a good idea where she is...' 

"Shinji-kun! Where are you! Asuka, she... she!" Maya's panicked voice came through the loud speaker causing her thoughts to temporarily be thrown off track. 

"What about Asuka!?" Misato yelled out to no one in particular, "What happened to her!?" 

As the woman reached for her radio to inform Shinji, a sudden wind came out of nowhere knocking her to the floor. She could have sworn she heard lighting strike as she held onto the rail to prevent herself from being drawn into the whirlwind. 

She was actually succeeding until she was hit by a piece of debris... 

* * * 

He wanted to see everyone again, even if he had to endure pain to do so. He wanted to be able to keep saying sorry while still enjoying the time he spent with them. He wanted to laugh when he was happy and he wanted to be able to cry when he was sad. 

Shinji was determined to fight anything that tried to stop him from doing so. 

Unit 01 spread its wings and started to rise out of the GeoFront with hurricane speed winds surrounding it. Needless to say, the GeoFront gave way to the massive bio machine and the top of it was destroyed as the Evangelion released some of its power. 

The monster was now released upon the world and its enemies. Anything with enough brain cells to survive would stay clear of its path, but the Evangelions that flew overhead were programmed to fight, and that was what they planned to do. 

"Asu-" His words were lost when he saw what remained of her Eva... 

Pieces of Unit 02 hung out of the mouth of most of the Mass Production series, and what was left on the ground of the Evangelion was almost enough to make his stomach turn. The head was torn in half, the torso was torn to bits, and the legs and arms were ripped off. 

He suddenly felt strange, but this feeling was familiar to him. It was between sorrow and rage, but not quite as extreme as either one. It was almost like an agitated but calm sense of fury that pushed him to tears. 

His scream was filled with enough anguish to part the Evangelion's mouth so it could roar as well. Unit 01 lost its wings and fell back to the ground with its eyes blazing white with revenge. 

As the monster known as Unit 01 arched its back and roared, something streaked through the air towards it. Moving too fast to be indentified, the object crashed into the ground beside the raging Evangelion. 

Although the dust from the impact was still thick, one would be able to see the gigantic red shape of a spear that seemed like it was hurled at the Earth by a God. The lance was firmly stuck in the ground and, despite how angry he was, Shinji calmly accepted its arrival. 

The berserk Evangelion gladly grabbed the weapon. It was going to destroy all of them, even if it got destroyed in the process. 

Despite the roaring Evangelion below, the Mass Production series continued to fly in formation until one of them was pierced with the red lance and quickly fell to the ground. 

Shinji commanded Unit 01 to pry the lance from the grounded Evangelion and was preparing to do the same to the others, when he found that they had already descended to the ground, prepared to do battle. 

With the image of the destroyed red Eva still fresh in his mind, Shinji forced Unit 01 to charge the remaining white Evangelions. 

Reckless was the word that came to mind as Unit 01 expanded it's AT field and started to strike down every Evangelion that faced it. Even though they got up on occasion, he would keep fighting till all of them stopped moving completely. 

In all of his fighting, the original purpose behind this madness was lost. He was supposed to be fighting to stop Third Impact, but now he was blind with revenge. Another one of his friends was dead and he was at fault... so all he could do was fight to stop it from happening again. 

Unit 01 dodged Unit 10's strike and dashed forward shoulder first to knock the white Evangelion to the ground. The purple Evangelion roared as it raised the Lance of Longinus above its head, but slumped forward as a fake copy of the lance impaled its chest. 

"What..." The pilot whispered as the Evangelion started to power down and fell to its knees as the Mass Production series started to regenerate. 

The last image Shinji saw on the display was that of the Evangelions closing in with almost mocking grins on their faces. 

* * * 

  
**Author's note:** (2004-2-26) 

What do I have to say... o.o? Nothing. I'm wasting space, time, and lives with this author's note. e_e 

Fenrir dodges the produce thrown at him. 

Seriously, I'm glad I'm a part of Studio 402, and although my pen-name is Chibi Fenrir, I decided to go with my forum name since this is a group project and not one of my own. I wish I could say that I have spent countless days working on this, but I can truthfully say that I always had the support of everyone else from the group. I would like to thank all of them, especially Ms. Ayanami-chan, for without her, this probably wouldn't even happen. I also would like to thank our fellow forum member, Syndikos, for coming up with the idea. 

Personally, I feel that allowing me to be in the group was good enough, but letting me be the one to write Shinji made me really glad. 

In closing, I would like to thank the readers and reviewers for taking time to read our story, and if you want to, please visit the forums. You may like it. 

Who is the next chapter by you ask? By Mr. A. Amishi of course. ^_^ 

Oh well, too bad the guy has to write from Pen-pen's point of view. O_O I gave the secret away. O_O 

Sorry for the delay and thanks for reading. ^_^ 

~ Fenrir


	4. Book 1 Chapter 03

_Disclaimer:_ Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission. 

Rei-Shinji. cjb. net presents   
**A Studio 402 Production**   
_A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Dennisud, Fenrir, and ReiIkari _

**The Courage to Live On**   
**Book One **

**Chapter 3:** Altering Destiny

By A. Amishi

  
In a hazy field of tall grass, Rei Ayanami saw Shinji Ikari walking away from her. For reasons she did not understand, she started running after him, but despite her best efforts, she could not draw any closer to him.

Finally she called out, "Ikari-kun! Wait!"

"I'm right here, Rei-chan," a voice said behind her.

Startled, she quickly spun around to find Shinji standing before her.

"Ikari-kun, is that really you?" She reached out and gently ran her hand over the tip of his nose, over his lips and down to his chin, finally letting her fingers slide off his face entirely and bringing her hand to just under her own mouth. "How is this possible?"

"Does it matter, Rei-chan?" He smiled at her as he extended his arms towards her, inviting her into his embrace.

Not knowing or caring why she felt the need to be held by him, she reached out to embrace him, but as soon as she did, he vanished from sight.

Gasping in shock, she cried out, "Ikari-kun."

Again a voice from behind her spoke. "It is time, Rei."

Turning abruptly, she found herself staring at Gendo Ikari. "Commander Ikari."

"It is time to fulfill your destiny," he repeated.

"But I do not wish to, Commander. I wish to be with Ikari," Rei answered softly but firmly.

"That is irrelevant. You must fulfill your purpose," Gendo Ikari replied. "Now!"

And with that word, a wave of energy emanated from the commander in all directions. A wave that could be seen as well as felt, and the moment it hit Rei...

She opened her eyes with a start and found herself staring up at the ceiling over her bed. Sitting up slowly, she looked around. "I am in my apartment." She looked down at her hand, the hand that touched Shinji's face. "Is this what Pilot Soryu called a dream?" She raised her hand to her nose, and, closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply. Slowly she opened her eyes again. "Ikari-kun?"

Tossing her blanket aside, she got out of bed and immediately got dressed. As she turned to leave, she spotted the object she had treasured for so long. She walked over to the cart where the beaker and the object sat. Lifting the eyeglasses, she held them in her hands as she looked at them with a sense of detached curiosity. Slowly, she allowed them to slip from her hands down to the floor. Lifting her right foot, she stepped down hard on the frames. The sound of glass breaking echoed in the nearly empty room. Moving her foot aside, she stared down at the remains, her expression unreadable.

She took one last look around the room she had called home for the past two years, or so the memories implanted in her told her. With steely resolve, she walked out of the tiny apartment for the last time, and headed for NERV headquarters for what she believed would be the last time as well.

---

Entering NERV Headquarters through the access way she had used ever since the angel battles started, Rei Ayanami walked down a long corridor. Passing through another set of doors that also required the use of her ID badge, she descended a long but swiftly moving escalator down to the 4th level. From there she continued down another corridor.

"Did you hear?"

"No, what?"

"They found the second child."

"It took them long enough. Was she alright?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I heard she was taken to the infirmary and that she hasn't regained consciousness."

"Is she in a coma?"

"Either that or catatonic."

"My, how the high and mighty have fallen."

"That's harsh."

"I suppose, but to tell you the truth I don't know what was more irritating, that redhead's constant boasting and tantrums whenever Shinji out did her, or that blue-haired girl's deafening silence all the time, like she's too good to talk to anyone but the commander."

"Shhh. Quiet, someone might hear you."

Rei stood just around the adjacent corridor on her way to the elevators that would take her to Terminal Dogma. She had stopped when she heard the second child mentioned and listened intently to the conversation, though she remained silent, not wanting to bring attention to herself.

'Why does this news concerning the Second Child trouble me? Why do I even care?'

Without further thought on this issue, she continued down the corridor, passing the intersection and in plain view of the two Project E technicians whom she had overheard.

"Do you suppose she heard us?" the female tech said to the male tech, her voice trembling ever so slightly.

"I don't know... but it doesn't really matter, does it? It's not like Rei Ayanami gives a shit about anything or anyone," the male tech replied.

"Yeah, I guess." The short, brown-haired woman stepped into the adjoining corridor and watched the First Child disappear into the distance.

"Come on. We need to get back over to Section C," her companion informed her.

She checked her watch and nodded in agreement, then turned and accompanied her friend down the corridor.

They never made it to Section C

---

Continuing down the corridor, the First Child stopped in front of the elevator that would take her down to Terminal Dogma. After a few seconds, the door opened and the petite girl stepped into the crowded lift. As it began its decent, two familiar voices began whispering.

"So how is Shinji doing since he was forced to kill K--"

"It was an angel. Try to remember that. It came to destroy us."

"Of course, I'm sorry."

"Anyway, I hear he's still taking it pretty hard. Though Nagisa was here only a short time, I guess he managed to make friends with Ikari rather quickly."

"I can't even imagine having to kill a friend, especially not like that."

"I know what you mean. I think I'd have a hard time recovering from something like that..."

The elevator stopped as three of the passengers exited, then the doors closed and it continued on its way down."I can't imagine how Ikari will react."

"I know what you mean. He's such a sensitive boy. I can't help but feel sorry for him."

The two systems technicians fell silent.

As the elevator came to its next stop, everyone else in the lift began to make their way off around the young teenage girl. The two last people to exit hesitated in mild surprise and embarrassment when they saw the First Child.

"Oh, Rei." Maya Ibuki blushed.

A moment later, Shigeru Aoba asked, "Aren't you getting off here as well?"

"No," was the First Child's only response.

"Hmm." Shigeru looked over at Maya, who only shrugged in response. "Okay."

Walking off the elevator, they both glanced back at the young teen one last time before turning to walk away.

As the elevator doors began to close, Rei added, "Goodbye."

They both turned just in time to catch a glimpse of the child's face.

"What was that?" Shigeru asked with concern. "I've never seen Rei look like that." Turning towards his co-worker, he added, "Did you see that?"

Nodding, Maya commented, "I'm not entirely sure, but if I didn't know better, I'd say she looked... a little sad."

"I don't think I've ever seen anything as frightening as that." Shigeru looked at his watch and added, "We better get going or we'll be late."

"Right," Maya replied, and the two technicians started toward Central Dogma.

---

The elevator descended into the lowest depths of NERV known as Terminal Dogma. The only sound that could be heard was the clicking of the level indicator. The First Child stared blankly at the doors, seemingly in a trance. As the lift reached its destination and the doors opened, the young pilot hesitated for just a moment, then said as she stepped off, "I will help you, Ikari-kun. I will protect you."

Entering a large chamber with an LCL tank built for one, Rei walked up to the control panel and entered the commands she had seen Doctor Akagi enter dozens of times before. The lights above and below the tank illuminated the orange fluid. After entering another sequence of commands, she began walking towards the back of the large room and ascended the narrow staircase that led to the entry hatch above the tank. As she made her way up the stairs, she removed her garments, casually discarding them on the floor. Undoing her bra and slipping out of her panties, she dropped them on the floor and pressed the button to open the hatch. Crouching down, Rei grabbed the sides of the opening and lowered herself into the LCL. Once she was suspended in the midst of the orange fluid, the hatch automatically closed.

'The time is coming. It will be very soon now.' She weighed her options carefully as she prepared herself to join with Adam and Lilith.

After precisely 42 minutes and 11 seconds of silence, the blue-haired girl heard a distant rumbling, and could actually detect a slight quiver even from within the LCL tank.

"It has begun," she whispered.

Looking up towards the tank exit, she said softly, "Open." The hatch did as the young teen commanded.

Rei gracefully exited the tank and made her way down the stairs. Ignoring her clothes and leaving the tank active, she exited the chambers and made her way to the room that housed Lilith.

---

Entering the room with the giant white figure nailed to an even larger cross, the young pilot approached it and said, "We shall be one with Ikari-kun very soon now."

Just then Gendo Ikari entered the chamber and walked up to the girl he saw only as his tool, his instrument for achieving his goals and desires. "Rei, it is time, time to fulfill your destiny."

The First Child gasped ever so slightly, remembering those exact same words being spoken by the commander in her dream.

"Yes, Sir," she replied obediently.

Gendo drew near. "You feel the pull of Lilith, don't you? She's calling to you."

At that moment, Rei felt the ligaments in her left elbow lose their cohesion along with the surrounding muscles, nerves, blood vessels and tissues. In a matter of seconds, her hand and forearm fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"Your AT Field is failing. The time is now," the commander affirmed.

"I'm afraid not, Commander." Stepping out from the shadows was Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, pointing a gun at Commander Ikari.

"Doctor, what do you think you are doing?" the bearded man demanded.

"Stopping your selfish actions." She took a step closer. "All of this, everything, it was all just to bring her back, wasn't it?" the blonde haired woman in the lab coat asked bitterly.

"You know the answer to your own question already. Why bother asking?"

"You selfish bastard! I loved you! I could have loved you like no other, not even her. But you closed off your heart to everyone when she died, even to your own son. And for what? So you can have a moment of happiness while everyone else suffers. Hundreds, if not thousands of people are dying out there because of you. Asuka's probably dead by now because of you. Even your own son will probably die, all because of you."

"Irrelevant," he replied firmly.

"No, you're irrelevant." She pulled out a device from her pocket and held it up for him to see. "I was going to destroy the Magi and all of NERV, but I decided that was too melodramatic." She tossed the device into the LCL. "Goodbye, Gendo. It was fun while it lasted."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A look of utter shock filled the commander's face as he dropped to his knees. Turning to look at the young naked pilot, his eyes pleaded with her as he reached out with his right hand. "Rei, please," he whispered, blood dripping from his mouth and chest.

The First Child took a half step away from the dying man, replying emotionlessly, "Farewell, Commander."

His eyes grew even wider in shock at the girl's response before they glazed over and he fell face first onto the hard floor.

'I am free.' Rei realized. 'My purpose, my destiny is my own.'

But her musings were short lived once Ritsuko spoke. "As for you, my dear little Rei. We can't have you wiping out all of humanity, can we?"

The blonde haired woman took aim, and was about to shoot when the doors to the chamber swung wide open and Misato came rushing in, panting and pointing her gun at her.

"Don't do it, Ritsuko!" the purple haired woman screamed, her head bandaged and bloodstained, the right sleeve of her red leather jacket missing and her upper arm also bandaged.

"Misato!" The doctor's eyes grew wide in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Your guard was found dead, a bullet to the head. Was that you?" her old friend asked.

"No, that was the JSSDF. I've only ever had two targets. I've taken care of one of them. Now I need to take care of the other." Doctor Akagi shifted her gaze from her friend to the small blue-haired girl.

"You can't, Ritsuko," the major insisted.

"Why not? If Rei dies, we all live. Don't you see that?" the doctor shot back.

Misato slowly, cautiously walked closer towards the two women, the whole time keeping her gun trained on Ritsuko's head. "You've got that backwards. If she dies, we all die. I've just received word from Central Command. Shinji hasn't been able to destroy the MP Evas. He's putting up a good fight, just like Asuka did, but it doesn't look like it's going to be enough, not even with the real Lance of Longinus. We need Rei to stop the Evas. She's our only hope now."

"What hope? Unit 00 is gone, there are no more Evas to fight with," the enraged doctor responded.

"I know you, Ritsuko. I know you never were one to let herself be painted into a corner, even in a situation like this. There is a way, isn't there? There is a way to stop them still," replied the major.

"But you run the risk of bringing about Third Impact!" Ritsuko countered frantically, keeping the barrel of her gun aimed at the blue-haired girl's chest.

"It's a risk we have to take. Help me, Ritsuko, help me stop the madness and save us all," the major pleaded.

The doctor's hand began to tremble as she stared into the young girl's face. "But she looks so much like Yui. I hate her." A tear escaped her right eye and ran down her cheek as she whispered, "I hate her."

"But Rei is not Yui. Rei is Rei. Don't punish her for the commander's sins." Misato slowly lowered her weapon. "Come on, Ritsuko, give me the gun and help me save the world," she said earnestly as she stepped between the doctor and the naked teen.

Staring into her long-time friend's eyes, Dr. Akagi let out a soft sigh, lowered her weapon, and handed it to the other woman. Taking her lab coat off, she walked around Misato and up to Rei, draping it over her shoulders. She bent down and picked up the girl's fallen arm, then turned and addressed her friend. "Come, we need to get Rei ready for this." She placed a gentle hand on the azure-haired girl's shoulder and started guiding her towards the exit. Stopping, she turned and asked, "Misato, do you have your utility knife?"

"Of course. Why?" The purple-haired woman replied as she holstered her gun and tossed the doctor's gun into the LCL. Getting a good look at the naked girl for the first time, she gasped in horror. "My lord, what happened to her arm?"

"There's no time to explain. Cut off Gendo's right hand. But don't bring it too close to Rei," the blonde woman instructed.

"His right hand?" the major turned and looked at the fallen commander. With some hesitation she crouched down and looked at the commander's hand, then withdrew slightly, her eyes wrinkling in disgust as she stumbled backwards. "My God! What is that?"

"That is Adam. The first angel and the first man," Doctor Akagi replied.

Grimacing at the repulsive sight of the first angel grafted into the man's hand, Misato still managed to muster the resolve to pull out her knife and hack it off. "Oh, I'm going to be sick," she moaned. The task complete, she tossed the bloody knife aside, pulled off her jacket and wrapped the hand up in it, then wiped the blood from her hands as best she could. Standing back up, she hurried to catch up to Ritsuko and Rei, who had gone on ahead to a hidden lab not far away.

---

Rei looked about the small lab. Unlike most of the other facilities in Terminal Dogma, she had never been in this room before, and it lacked the sense of familiarity she was accustomed to.

Walking over to the diagnosis table, Ritsuko placed the arm down on it, then turned to the girl. "Rei, come sit on the table."

The teen did as she was instructed. Sitting on the table, she looked over at her arm, then at where the arm used to be. 'I feel no pain. Why don't I feel pain?' she wondered. She looked up and saw the doctor opening the door to a small refrigerator at the far end of the small room. 'I must go to Ikari-kun. He calls to me. He needs me. I should not be here.' Rei shifted her gaze over to the object in Misato's hands, and she was filled with an overwhelming sense of longing. Calmly, the young teenage girl addressed her superior officer. "Major Katsuragi, will you come here please?"

Without thinking, the Operations Director began walking towards the girl in the lab coat.

"Misato! Stop!" the blonde woman yelled out, having caught a glimpse of the purple haired woman approaching the young pilot.

The major turned swiftly towards her old friend. "What?" she responded with a startled expression.

"Step away from Rei," the doctor instructed.

Turning back towards the young blue haired girl, the major saw nothing in the child's casual manner that suggested she was a threat in any way. Sitting on the observation table in nothing but Ritsuko's lab coat, she looked so small and vulnerable. Then she looked into the fiery red eyes that seemed to burn with an intensity she had never before seen from this child.

Misato flinched and stepped away slowly, backpedaling over to the doctor. "What's wrong with Rei?" she asked.

"She feels the call of Adam," Ritsuko replied before going back to her search of the refrigerator.

The major looked down at the hand she had wrapped up in her jacket, blood still dripping from it. Her expression suddenly matched her feeling of nausea. Slowly, she turned her attention back to her friend. Seeing the blonde woman searching with a sense of urgency in the small refrigerator, Misato asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Something I developed nearly a year ago," her friend answered. "The plan for bringing about Third Impact was to fuse Adam and Lillith with a human soul. The fusion of the three elements would result in the creation of a new being. The next great leap in human evolution," Ritsuko explained.

"Rei?" a puzzled Misato asked, still not understanding.

"No, Rei is simply the catalyst, the magnet that beckons all souls to her, the union of all human souls. That is Human Instrumentality. The next step in our evolution, at least that's how Seele saw it," the doctor concluded.

"Sounds more like a giant nightmare," the major countered.

"A nightmare no one will ever be able to wake up from, unless we stop it. Ah, there it is." The doctor pulled out a vial from the back of the middle shelf, then slammed the refrigerator door shut.

"So how do we stop it?" Misato inquired, following her friend over to the row of cabinets that held an assortment of medical supplies.

As she searched for a syringe, Ritsuko explained. "In anticipation of this day, Gendo had me develop a formula to allow him to control the catalyst, to direct her as he saw fit. The problem was that the formula I came up with was too powerful. In tests, not only did it block total bonding to the angelic material, it produced... unexpected results in the subject. It is my hope that by using this," she held up the vial, "we can keep Rei from completely fusing with Adam and Lilith. If we can keep them separate even while they are joined, then we have a chance." Then she paused as she found a syringe. Removing it from its protective seal, she turned the vial upside down and pierced the cover with the needle, filling it to precisely 160 cc.

"A chance?" Misato asked, not fully understanding her old friend's explanation.

"If Rei can maintain her own identity, she will be able to separate herself from this new creation, and without her human soul, it will cease to live."

"And if she can't maintain her identity?" Misato asked nervously.

Taking Rei's arm, Ritsuko wiped a swab over a vein and said, "Then the new creation will summon all souls from around the world and our bodies will be reduced to LCL."

Misato returned her sober stare for several tense moments, then turned towards Rei and said, "It's all up to you, Rei. Don't let us turn into soup."

The First Child's only response was a solitary blink

"Rei," the doctor said in an effort to grab the girl's attention. When she saw she had it, she continued, "During your whole life your destiny has been dictated for you, but now I have to ask you this. Is this what you want?" she asked, holding up the syringe.

The First Child considered the doctor's words for a moment, then gave her response. "This is not what I desire for myself, but if to do nothing would mean Ikari-kun's death..."

"It would, I'm certain of it," Misato interjected.

"And what would be Ikari-kun's response to the unification of all souls?" She looked to the major for an answer.

To which the purple-haired woman replied, "Knowing Shinji, I'm sure it wouldn't be what he would want."

"But it would take away all of his suffering and pain," the azure-haired girl reasoned.

"But it is his pain that defines Shinji and gives him the will to go on. Without it he'd most likely cease to exist as a person," the major explained.

After a long agonizing silence, the azure-haired girl responded, "I understand. I shall do my best to destroy the Evas and prevent Third Impact."

A faint smile played across the doctor's face. "Okay then." She inserted the needle into the girl's vein and slowly injected the fluid into her. The response was almost immediate, as her eyes changed from crimson red to a fiery gold and her hair fell out in a cascade of blue, only to be immediately replaced by shimmering gold locks. Even her skin took on a golden hue.

"Oh my God," Misato gasped, taking a step back in fear.

"Don't worry, she's alright," the doctor reassured her, then turned back to the young girl and asked, "How do you feel, Rei?"

In a seemingly detached voice the girl replied, "I feel, Doctor. For the first time in my life, I feel... everything." She broke into a smile and added, "Now I understand. I understand so much of what had been hidden from me." She reached out and touched Ritsuko's cheek. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Don't thank me yet, Rei. I don't know if you will be able to retain these feelings and this understanding afterward," the blonde woman explained.

"I thank you still, for at least I have them now," Rei replied, then she lowered her arm and turned towards Misato, saying, "It is time, Major Katsuragi." She extended her hand towards the purple-haired woman. "I will take Adam now."

"Adam?" the major asked.

"The hand," the doctor replied.

"You mean this is Adam?" She unfolded her jacket, exposing the creature that was concealed by it. "I thought that giant white thing hanging on the cross was Adam."

"That is Lilith, the mother of us all." Rei's voice echoed softly.

"Gendo had the embryo of Adam grafted to his hand," Ritsuko explained.

Uncertain of what to do, the major hesitated, but her friend reassured her. "It's all right, Misato. Go ahead and give it to her now."

Following her friend's instructions, she gradually extended the hand to the young pilot.

Reaching out, the doctor took the hand, to the surprise of both women. "Rei, allow me to assist you."

A placid expression crossed the young teenager's face. "Very well, Doctor."

"Thank you, Rei," Ritsuko replied, then picked up the girl's arm from the table. "Now, please lie down."

Doing as the doctor instructed, she watched as the blonde woman set her detached limb next to her where it should be, had it still been a part of her. Then she watched as Doctor Akagi gently placed the hand upon her lower abdomen. Rei's eyes fluttered ever so slightly as the embryo made contact with her skin. Ritsuko applied a small amount of pressure, but nothing happened.

"Rei, you must lower your AT field for a moment so that Adam may enter," the doctor explained.

Tilting her head towards the doctor, the young pilot's voice echoed. "I am frightened, Doctor. I do not wish to lose myself."

Offering her an expression of concern that the golden-haired girl had never seen from the doctor, she took comfort in the woman's words. "Just remember, Rei, you are in control. No matter how much Adam and Lilith will try to convince you otherwise, you are the one in control. They cannot take away your humanity unless you permit them to. Do you understand, Rei?"

A tear slipped from her left eye as a faint smile crossed her lips. "Yes, Doctor Akagi." With that, she lowered her AT Field and allowed Adam to slip into her body and enter her womb. The girl's eyes instantly went wide as she gasped. Not a moment later, the tissues and nerves of her upper left arm extended down and re-attached themselves to her lower arm. She lifted her hand, bringing it into view and lightly flexing it. While her lips did not betray any expression, Rei's golden eyes smiled knowingly, then she sat up and slid off the table.

Turning towards Ritsuko, the First Child said, "I see what you mean, Doctor." Then she headed for the door, adding, "It is time now for me to fulfill my new destiny, one I was asked to fulfill, one I have decided to fulfill of my own free will."

"Where is she going?" Misato asked.

"Back to Lilith," the blonde woman replied, following after the girl, and was quickly followed by the Major. As they made their way back to the room and across the large open space towards the white giant, Ritsuko reached out her hand and grabbed Misato's arm, halting her progress. The major turned towards her friend, giving her a questioning stare.

To which Doctor Akagi replied, "It could be dangerous for us to get any closer to it."

Misato nodded and stayed by the doctor's side.

As Rei came within a few meters of the masked angel, she whispered, "It is time." She suddenly ascended until she was even with the angel's chest, then in an instant was pulled into the white being.

"Oh my God!" Misato gasped as the angel on the cross, regenerated its legs and slowly pulled its arms and body free from the cross. It fell into the pool of LCL, feet first, causing a wave that washed over the large oval platform and splashed at the two women's feet. Slowly, the behemoth leaned forward until it was on all fours, then the mask, which covered its face, slowly pulled loose and fell off. At first it seemed to be a faceless being, but in a few seconds distinguishable features came into focus.

"My God, it's Rei," the major marveled.

The doctor simply nodded.

Once the giant being's facial features all came into focus, her eyes turned a bright shimmering gold, and a moment later so did her hair. As it raised its head, it smiled at the two women, then gradually began to rise up into the air. It passed through the ceiling and continued its ascent, growing ever larger in size.

"Oh my God! It really is Rei," Misato gasped in utter shock and horror.

"Yes, Rei has merged with Adam and Lilith, forming a new creation," Ritsuko explained.

"Does this mean she failed to maintain her own identity?" the major questioned.

"No, this was necessary for her to assume the power she needs to defeat the Evas. It's after she's completed that task that the true test of her willpower will come into play. That is when she needs to separate herself from it and return to her human form. Otherwise..." The doctor paused in fearful contemplation.

"Otherwise, Third Impact?" Fear and worry was etched on the major's face.

"Precisely," the doctor answered as she watched the glowing white angel rise up past Terminal Dogma.

"Come." Ritsuko pulled her friend's arm as the new creation rose through the building to the screams of fear and horror by all who saw her. "We need to get out of here, and we need to get everyone else out of here as well."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Asuka wiped out most of the JSSDF forces above ground and the rest were pulling out as fast as they could, but where will we go?" the major asked as she ran to keep up with her friend.

"It doesn't matter as long as it's far away from here. Otherwise we won't survive the destruction of the Eva Units," the doctor warned.

"What about Shinji and Asuka?" Concern washed over the purple-haired woman for her two young wards.

"It depends on how badly the upper cavity of their Evas were damaged. They may survive; they may not. There's really no way to tell from here."

---

As the being that possessed Rei's likeness reached the surface, it saw the dismembered remains of Eva Unit 02, and deep within the being, its soul wept at the loss of a precious human life, though its outward appearance remained stoic. As it scanned its surroundings it saw the nine mass-produced Evas huddled around a giant purple and black humanoid form.

Deep within, it whispered to itself, "Eva Unit 01, Pilot Ikari's Eva... Ikari... Ikari-kun... Ikari-kun!"

Rage welled up inside the being as it watched Eva Unit 01 desperately holding onto the Lance of Longinus as three of the Evas tried to pull it from its grasp, while the other six tore at its shoulders, legs, and back. Purple blood sprayed in every direction, bathing the Evas in it.

But while the new creation formed from the bodies of Lilith and Adam, along with the body and soul of Rei, remained silent and tranquil, the young girl who strove to maintain her humanity within wept tears of anger and rage. Slowly the giant being, which was now five times the size of the Evas and still growing, raised its right hand, and while its lips did not move, spoke the words, "By the Will of ALMIGHTY GOD, Come to Me."

And the Lance flew out of Unit 01's hands, sending the three Evas that were trying to take it sprawling onto the ground.

In less than a second, the Lance flew through the air and was in the ever-growing being's right hand.

The nine white Evas all looked up and took notice of the being that resembled a naked Rei Ayanami, many times her normal size.

Then the creation spoke again, "Beings who possess the false souls of an Angel, Come to Me."

And all nine Evas spread their wings and took to the air, forming a circle around the new creation.

Now the creation stood with the Lance in its right hand, high over its head. Purposefully, the giant being lowered its arm in front of itself and clasped the Lance with both hands, causing the Holy device to grow in like proportion to it. Then it spoke again, "Come, Rise up high and receive thy righteous judgement."

And the Evas rose even higher, howling in praise of the new creation.

The likeness of Rei Ayanami raised the Lance of Longinus over its head, holding it parallel to the ground, then began quoting from the ancient text.

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditations. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the day, O Lord; in the daytime will I direct my voice unto thee, and will look up. For thou art a God that hath no pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful things. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward parts are wholly wicked; their throat is an open sepulcher; they devour with their teeth. Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee."

As the creation recited the words, the Evas stretched their limbs wide and threw their heads back.

"All creatures compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I shall destroy you."

As the words echoed from the giant being, the Lance suddenly grew in length, extending past the diameter of the circle the Evas made, its edges turning razor sharp. Tightening her grip on the Lance, Rei spun around so quickly she was a blur. In that instant, she sliced all nine Evas into shreds, rupturing their S2 engines as well. But as the plasma which fueled the S2 engines came in contact with each other in the whirlwind created by Rei, the reactive elements ignited, creating an explosion so devastating that it vaporized everything within 30 kilometers.

---

From atop Mt. Futago, Misato and Ritsuko, along with about 60 other NERV employees looked up into the sky in time to witness the event.

"I never thought it would be so big," Ritsuko muttered.

"We're not far enough away," Misato realized.

"No one is," her friend replied.

A moment later the shock wave from the explosion obliterated the mountain.

---

Below the giant creation, Unit 01 dragged itself with one arm towards the shattered remains of Unit 02.

"Asuka." Shinji gasped for breath as his blood mingled with the LCL in the entry plug. "I'm coming, Asuka," he called out weakly. And just as the blinding white light of the explosion lit up the ground all around him, he tossed the mangled body of Unit 01 over Unit 02 in an effort to protect its entry plug.

---

Rei stood alone in the dark; not a sound could be heard, not a thing could be seen.

"Where am I?" she wondered aloud.

"You are in the world you created," a familiar voice told her.

"The world I created?" The First Child narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Yes, the world you desired," another voice spoke.

Turning from side to side, then all the way around, and still only seeing total darkness, Rei cautiously asked, "Who are you?"

A narrow beam of light appeared approximately 10 meters in front of her. "I am Adam."

Rei gasped. "Commander Ikari?"

"And I am Lilith," a second voice came from behind her.

Turning, Rei gasped a second time, her eyes going wide in shock. "Doctor Ikari." She looked back and forth between the two. "How is this possible? Both of you are dead. I do not understand."

"I am Adam."

"And I am Lilith."

"We appear before you in this form because..."

"This is the form which has been tied so closely to your destiny for so long."

"This is the form you have learned to trust, the only form you trust."

"That is not true," the golden-eyed girl protested as she backed away from the two of them, only to find the light following her.

"I am the only one you trust," Adam said confidently.

"I am your destiny," Lilith said assuredly.

"No." Rei continued to back away. "I do not trust you, not any longer," she said, looking over at the Commander. "You are not my destiny. My destiny is my own," she said, staring at Yuri.

The lights that illuminated Adam and Lilith went out, and Rei could not hear or sense the presence of anyone in front of her.

"What about me, Rei-chan? Do you trust me?"

Rei turned around to find Shinji standing next to her, smiling.

"Ikari-kun."

"What about me, Rei?"

Turning again, the golden-haired girl let out a small gasp. "Pilot Soryu."

"No reason to be so formal, Rei. Just call me Asuka." The red-haired girl smiled warmly.

"Yeah, Rei-chan, you're among friends now," the dark-haired boy said. "You can call me Shinji."

"But where are we?" the pale skinned girl asked.

"Don't you recognize this place?" the redhead replied.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it was the middle of the day. The sun hung high in the air and only a handful of clouds concealed the bright blue sky.

"See?" Shinji gestured to her left.

Turning, she found herself looking down on Tokyo-3. "I have been here before," she replied.

"We all have, during the blackout, remember?" Asuka reminded her.

"It's nice here," Shinji said, standing at the edge of the cliff. Turning, he gestured to her. "Come, Rei-chan, take my hand and stand here beside me." He offered the confused young teenager an innocent smile.

But she hesitated, her mind struggling with the contradictions. 'Should I believe what my eyes are showing me? Is this right?'

Before she could answer herself, she felt a warm pair of hands gently caress her shoulders and guide her towards the Third Child. "It's all right, Rei," Asuka whispered in her ear, "we're all in this together." Coming to a stop when Rei was next to Shinji, Asuka stepped to the other side of her, keeping one hand on the First Child's shoulder.

Rei stared at the Second in amazement until she felt something warm and inviting take her hand. Turning her head, she saw Shinji smiling at her. She looked down to see their hands intertwined. Looking back up at Shinji's smiling face, she could not help but smile back 'Is this what I wanted all along?' she wondered. 'Is this what joy is, is this love?' She tightened her hold on Shinji's hand and slid her other hand around Asuka's waist, drawing the Second Child closer.

"Now we can be together," the Third Child said as he leaned over and pressed his lips to Rei's temple.

The First Child closed her eyes and smiled. The Second Child rested the side of her head on Rei's shoulder and sighed happily. "Mmm hmm, together forever."

'Together... Forever... Together... Forever...' Suddenly, Rei's eyes flew open and she quickly stepped away from her two companions.

"What's wrong, Rei-chan?" Shinji asked, a mixture of pain and confusion expressed on his face.

"Yeah, what gives?" added Asuka with a pouty look.

"This is not right," the First Child insisted. "We are not so familiar." She shifted her gaze from Shinji to Asuka. "Not so friendly."

"But we can be, if you want us to be," Asuka smiled.

"You can make what ever world you want, Rei-chan." The young teenage boy stepped towards her, causing the golden haired girl to retreat. "You have the power - we have the power - to create the world we've always wanted. A world free of pain and sadness and loneliness."

"A world free of regret and agonizing memories." Asuka stepped forward.

"A world filled with love..." the boy stated.

"... and hope," the redhead added as she stood next to him.

"This is not real. You are not real," Rei declared forcefully, staring directly at Shinji. "You have never been comfortable enough around me to call me Rei-chan." Turning her gaze on Asuka, she continued, "And you hate me, you have always hated me." She turned and looked up at the clear blue sky. "None of this is real. This is all an illusion, all of it," she whispered sadly.

"If real is what you want," the Second and Third Child said in unison, "Then you shall have it."

In the blink of an eye the sky turned a dull red and the mountain Rei had been facing was no more. The First Child gasped, and her eyes went wide in horror as she spun around and let out a scream, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground.

Before her stood her fellow pilots, but not as they were before. Both were charred almost beyond recognition. Asuka was missing her left eye, and her right arm was shattered and lifeless. Her abdomen was torn open and the smoldering remains of her entrails lay before her. Shinji's arms had multiple lacerations and deep bite marks, the muscles and tissues completely torn from his shoulders, exposing the bones. The same was true for his legs, which had large chunks of flesh missing.

Rei turned away in horror, but Shinji insisted, "Come look at what the Evas did to us, at what you did to us."

Rei's head snapped back towards the boy, her eyes wide in shock. "I did this to you?"

"When you destroyed the Evas, you caused an explosion so powerful it obliterated the surrounding mountains, vaporized the city, and caused the LCL in the entry plugs to boil and evaporate, boiling Shinji and I alive and melting down the shielding until the entry plugs were exposed and melted as well," Asuka informed her.

"And as if boiling alive wasn't enough, we burst into flames once the entry plugs melted down," the male pilot added.

"This cannot be. I came to save you, to save everyone," the golden haired girl insisted.

"How ironic, because instead you ended up killing everyone."

"Come, see with your own eyes." Shinji gestured towards the edge of the translucent plain they stood upon.

Slowly, Rei stood up and made her way to the plain's edge. Looking down at what was once Mt. Futago, the young girl gasped in horror at the sight below. Amongst the devastation, there were scattered about the barren wastes the skeletal remains of about fifty or so people. Hardly anything remained of them save their bones, but next to one of the bodies was what appear to be a silver necklace, partially melted, and at the end of it a silver cross.

"My God, it is true. I killed them all. I killed everyone." Tears began to roll down the girl's pale face.

"It's okay, Rei." Asuka placed a restored hand upon the golden haired girl's shoulder. "It doesn't have to be this way."

Looking over at the redhead, Rei saw that the girl was whole once again. Quickly turning her head towards the boy, she saw he too was whole and without any signs of injury. She smiled and reached up to touch his face, but as her fingers came in gentle contact with his cheek, her smile slowly faded.

For his part, Shinji seemed not to notice the change in Rei's expression, relishing in the feel of her soft warm hand upon his cheek, but all too quickly, for him, her hand was withdrawn, and once again the girl with the golden hair and golden eyes stepped away from her two comrades.

"What's wrong, Rei-chan?" Shinji asked sorrowfully.

"This is what Doctor Akagi warned me about," she answered. "I am allowing my emotions, these feelings I am experiencing, to cloud my judgment, to sway me, to keep me from doing what I know I must do."

"But if you do, then everyone you've ever known will be dead, and you'll be all alone," Asuka warned.

Rei looked down in deep concentration. 'She is correct. Though this would not have been a problem before, with these feelings I now possess...' She looked up at Asuka, then to Shinji, and her eyes welled up in unshed tears. 'I do not know if I could bear being alone.' But slowly her features steeled with a resolve that came from a deeper realization, and with an assurance that she did not possess just a moment earlier. Looking up at her comrades once again, she said, "But if I can create an alternate reality, then I can also alter this reality."

"What do you mean?" a startled Asuka questioned.

"I can roll back time to just before I destroyed the Evas," she answered.

"But we will still be seriously maimed." Shinji said as he and Asuka changed yet again, this time to the condition the real second and third child were in after their battles with the Evas.

"I wish there were something I could do about that. But to roll time any further back would not alter the results of your battles, and to alter the true reality any more would be conceding to your wishes... Adam," Rei stared pointedly at the being that had taken Shinji Ikari's form, "... Lilith," she shifted her stare over to the being who had assumed the form of Asuka Langley Soryu.

That said, Rei's eyes began to glow a brilliant shimmery gold and her hair radiated out from her, producing the appearance of a golden aura about the girl's head.

"NO, REI!!!!" Lilith cried out.

"PLEASE, REI-CHAN, I-I LOVE YOU!!!" Adam screamed in desperation.

But the girl who was the catalyst for Third Impact had already set things in motion and was not about to be swayed as a bright light began to emit from deep within her being. In a matter of seconds, the light engulfed her completely and continued to radiate out until the other two people on the plain were engulfed by it, then the surrounding region, and eventually, the whole world.

---

Shinji struggled to hold onto the Lance with the remaining strength in his tortured body, but before he knew it, the long red object was ripped from his grasp and sailed across the air, right into the hands of a giant white form with wings and golden hair and eyes. Looking up, he stared at it for a moment as familiarity with this being's features slowly filled his mind. "Rei? Rei Ayanami?"

Before he could process what had happened, the nine Evas that had been attacking him took flight and were now around the winged giant.

"NO! Leave her alone!" he screamed, trying to take a step towards her, but the leg of his Eva collapsed beneath him and he fell to the ground. "Leave her alone, leave her alone," he wept bitterly as he tried desperately to drag Unit 01 across the ground in their direction. He managed to cover about 200 meters before he noticed the ground around him shifting in and out of the shadows, causing Shinji to look up and see the winged giant and the nine Evas flying high into the sky. "What?" He strained to keep Rei in view, but after just a short time it became nearly impossible for him to follow them. Turning his attention back to the surface, he spotted in the distance the shattered remains of Unit 02. "Asuka!" As quickly as he could, he forced Unit 01 over to the carcass that was once Unit 02. "Asuka, please be alive, please." The boy began to cry once again as Unit 01 crawled up onto Unit 02 and shook it by the shoulders in hopes of stimulating some sign of life from within the disemboweled creature. Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed from high above the sky. Looking up quickly, the young male pilot saw an explosion emanating from what he believed to be Rei and the nine Evas. Instinctively, he covered Unit 02 with his Eva as best he could in hopes of saving Asuka. Clutching his instruments tightly and squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for the impact of the explosion, but after several agonizing seconds, nothing happened. Cautiously, he looked up and marveled. "Oh My God!"

Having exhausted all of his remaining strength, the Third Child's eyes wavered, then closed as he slumped in his seat and his Eva slumped motionless over the remains of Unit 02.

---

From atop Mt. Futago, Misato and Ritsuko, along with about 60 other NERV employees, looked up into the sky in time to witness the event.

"I never thought it would be so big," Ritsuko muttered.

"We're not far enough away," Misato realized.

"No one is," her friend replied.

Suddenly, a brilliant white light flashed in the sky and everyone dropped to the ground. After a few seconds, Ritsuko opened her eyes and rolled over to stare up at the sky. "My Lord."

This caused Misato to do the same. Gasping in shock, she asked, "What is that?"

"That's Rei's AT Field," the doctor answered.

"But how can she extend it so far?" the major wondered aloud.

"I don't know. I had no idea she was this powerful," Ritsuko marveled.

"She's protecting us," Maya said as she walked up to them.

"She's protecting the entire planet," Misato corrected as she looked out into the horizon in every direction, and in every direction Rei's AT Field extended beyond sight, keeping the devastating explosion high above the planet's atmosphere.

More than a minute later the explosion dissipated, and slowly the AT Field began to shrink until it came down to one point in the sky. Staring up at that point, Ritsuko, Misato, and Maya were able to make out a small white figure beginning to fall at high speed.

"Rei!" Misato was the first to react, rushing down the mountainside in a desperate attempt to reach the First Child before she hit the ground.

Ritsuko turned to her assistant, "Stay here and look after the others," then she ran after her old friend and colleague.

---

Having commandeered an abandoned JSSDF jeep, they came to a small crater in the heart of the city and could make out the petite form of the girl they sought in the middle of it.

Rushing down into the crater, they picked up her frail, dust-covered body and turned her over.

"Amazing. No contusions, cuts, or breaks whatsoever," the doctor said with complete astonishment as she performed a quick analysis of the young girl.

"She must have had just enough strength to keep her AT Field up until she made impact," Misato replied as she wiped the dust from the girl's face and hair. "Oh my."

"What?" The doctor turned her attention to her friend.

"Her hair, it's blue again." She smiled.

Just then the girl stirred as her eyes fluttered open. "Major Katsuragi?" She paused. "Did I complete my mission successfully?" she whispered.

Looking down, Misato spotted the familiar red orbs that she once found so unsettling, but now found quite reassuring. "Yes, Rei, you did an excellent job. You saved us all."

"Rei, what's the last thing you remember?" Ritsuko asked.

The young teen blinked several times before responding, "I recall your attempt to place Adam into my womb, but I maintained my AT Field. You told me I needed to lower it, which I did." She paused again. "That is all I can remember." Slowly, with Misato's help, she was able to sit up. "Doctor, was I able to join with Adam and Lilith?"

"Yes, Rei, you did everything we needed you to do. Just like Misato said, you did an excellent job," the doctor said with a smile as she slipped off her jacket and draped it over the naked girl's shoulders. "Can you stand, Rei?"

"I am not certain." The First Child tried to get up, but quickly fell back down. "It seems my body lacks the strength for such actions."

"That's alright, Rei, just relax." Misato slid her arms behind Rei's back and under her legs, and lifted the petite child up in her arms.

"Please, Major, do not hurt yourself," the First Child warned.

"Don't worry, Rei, you're not heavy at all," the major replied as she and the doctor made their way out of the crater and back into the jeep. Misato sat Rei in the back seat and Ritsuko took the seat next to her so she could continue to check on her condition.

As Misato got into the driver's seat, Rei asked, "What of Ikari and Soryu? What is their condition?"

"We don't know yet, but we'll find out soon enough." Misato drove off, even more concerned about her two wards then the First Child appeared to be. But she knew she needed to take care of who was in the vehicle now, if for no other reason than simply because she owed Rei her life, as did everyone else on the planet.

--- ---   
  
** Author's Notes:** (2004-6-25)

First I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies for taking so very long to complete this chapter. Unfortunately, real life has a way of throwing a monkey wrench in the best laid plans. I'm so very grateful to Ayanami-chan, Akodo Tim, and the others for their patience and understanding in the long wait. I'd also like to offer a great big thank you to my personal beta-reader, Janice, who isn't even an Eva fan yet took the time to edit this chapter for me and offered constructive comments as well.

This is the most unusual project and yet one of the most rewarding I've ever been a part of. Everyone is so very helpful and supportive and offered wonderful comments. I'm really glad to be working on this project, and I'm sure we will follow through with this till the end, so don't worry if any given chapter takes a while to get posted, it's most likely real life intruding on our ability to write in a timely manner, but nothing to get nervous about. It will be completed.

For those of you that are interested, the quotes were taken from the Book of Psalms chapters 5 and 118. I did alter them to better suit my needs for this story, so they are not an exact quote. Also, just in case you were wondering, I did say Lilith and Adam, even though they still looked like Asuka and Shinji at that moment when Rei is about to turn back time and destroy the mass produced Evas once again, so as to make sure everyone understood that this was not the real Asuka nor the real Shinji she had been speaking to the entire time, but rather Lilith and Adam appearing as Asuka and Shinji, attempting to prey upon her emotions in order to keep her from separating from them and essentially destroying them. I hope that was made clear in the chapter. The second half of this chapter took a great deal of time and concentration to get it right. At least I hope I got it right.

As for the next chapter, well, let's just say you'll be in for a treat.

  
A. Amishi


	5. Book 1 Chapter 04

_Disclaimer:_ Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission.

Rei-Shinji. cjb. net presents  
**A Studio 402 Production**

**The Courage to Live On**  
**Book One**

**Chapter 4:** Paying the Ferryman

_By Random1377_

Misato kept her breathing low and even, focusing on a spot across the room and trying to think of something pleasant as a sound like pebbles tapping on concrete continued echoing unabated off the walls all around her. She knew she was in trouble - it was a place she found herself all too frequently over the last few weeks - but she was not willing to just roll over and give up.

Not after everything she had surrendered already.

"Echo Six to Big Bang, Echo Six to Big Bang," she muttered into the slender mouthpiece that ran like a spider's web from her left earlobe to her full, tensely pursed lips. "Need immediate EVAC - landing zone is hot, repeat, LZ is HOT."

"Big Bang to Echo Six," came the level reply, "have you accomplished your primary mission parameters?"

Misato's nostrils flared as the jerk with the silenced semi-auto paused to reload, obviously preparing to pepper the doorway she had ducked into with gunfire once more in the hopes that she might be stupid enough to step out into the clear. _Like that'll happen,_ she thought disgustedly, _I'll stay here until I die of starvation before making myself an easy target._

To the team leader for the mission she was on, she replied, "Negative. LZ is hot, damn it - Gutierrez and Sloan got nailed before they were on the ground! I'm CUT OFF! Get me the f-"

"Complete the assignment, Echo Six," the cold voice on the other end of the line cut in, "rendezvous at location six, as planned. Big Bang - out."

"Son of a-"

The line went dead at the same moment the pitter of bullets resumed.

_Alright,_ she thought, slipping one of the two guns in her hands smoothly into its holster and reaching into her belt pouch, _time to improvise._

The ability to improvise, her training officer had told her when she had joined NERV, is a commanding officer's greatest ally... and worst enemy. You want to be able to adapt to any situation you're placed in, but you don't want your underlings going and thinking that they're free to do the same - otherwise the chain of command will fall apart, and the battlefield will turn into a mishmash of half-baked battle plans and ideas that 'seemed like a good idea at the time.'

"Like it isn't that way already," Misato muttered under her breath, pulling a compact out of the belt pouch and flipping it deftly open. "Alright you little bastard... where are you?"

The compact, Misato would tell you, is the most underused battlefield tool ever. You could use it to peer around corners, deflect security lasers, catch light to signal your allies from afar, or use it as a decoy landmine, providing a split second of confusion to get away or pull out a real weapon.

And if you survived, you could even use it to help apply makeup.

_I'm so funny,_ Misato thought as she angled the small mirror over her shoulder, trying to catch sight of her assailant. _Asuka would be cracking up... if she wasn't-_

"There you are," she whispered, cutting the grim thought off before it could form.

There was no point in dwelling on the Second Child's current state. It would only make it harder for the former operations director to complete her 'primary mission parameters,' namely: infiltrate extremist faction's compound, retrieve local politician's kidnapped daughter, evacuate.

_It looked so good on paper,_ Misato thought, watching the soldier taking careful aim in her direction to keep her pinned down. _Hell, it was only supposed to be a level 2 assignment. Two cells in, two cells out, minimal resistance - cakewalk._

Unfortunately, as the extra gun in her hand could attest, Misato was the only member of her three-man cell left alive, and she had no idea where the other cell had touched down. She had only snatched the gun on impulse as she dashed past her fallen comrade on her way into the compound, knowing - by the large hole in his chest - that he would not be missing it.

She nearly snorted as she shook her head, watching through the compact for any opening she could use to break free of her current position. "Hammer cells," she mused softly, "dull, striking instruments with no visible ties to the deploying organization. With my experience, I should be in a Razor cell, for - there!"

With a cry, she swung out of her hiding place, whipping her gun around to where the very surprised solider was just slapping a fresh clip into his rifle.

"Bang."

The man hit the ground hard, with a perfectly circular hole directly in the middle of his forehead and a look of complete shock on his youthful face.

Misato hurried over to where he lay, briefly considering the heavy rifle in his meaty hands before shaking her head and crouching down to inspect the body a little closer. Heavy was exactly what she did not need just then. Yes, the rifle had a lot of stopping power, but from the looks of it there was only one clip left, and if she came up against a large number of enemies, the thing would be emptied in a matter of seconds.

_Leave it,_ Misato told herself, checking the man for any other useful tools before rising to her feet. _Remember why you're here - not just the mission, but the reason you're even WORKING for these jackals._

Faces and voices flashed through her mind, making her jaw clench with the intensity of it all. _"What are you, stupid?"_ one voice in particular rose above the others. _"Don't pretend you're doing this for us - you're just here to ease your conscience!"_

"Oh shut up," Misato muttered, ejecting the clip on her handgun and finding it still mostly full. "This IS for you - it's all for you... so what if it eases my conscience at the same time, I'm still doing it-"

She cut herself off sharply, glancing around the narrow, cobblestone hallway for any signs of movement. _I've GOT to stop talking to myself!!_

Stowing her compact and redrawing her borrowed pistol, Misato jogged down the corridor, picturing the partial map intelligence had acquired and making a left at the first juncture she came to.

_The girl should be pretty close by,_ she thought, remembering the profile she had read on her target, _if she's alive._

Not a very optimistic viewpoint, Misato readily admitted, but sadly, a realistic one - especially when dealing with extremist/terrorist factions like this one. Most claimed to be doing it for whatever god they happened to believe in. Some said their actions were justified because the government that ruled them was too harsh. A few even insisted that aliens had contacted them that what they were doing was the only way to save mankind.

It was all the same to Misato, though... be it God, government, or aliens from outer space, a large group of people was hurting innocents - and they had to be stopped.

Not that this was the reason for her current assignment, of course - her employer was not quite that magnanimous. _No,_ she thought venomously, _we're only here because the politician in question HAPPENS to be on their good side and they plan to use this rescue mission to make him more agreeable to their plans. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if they're the ones that arranged the kidnapping. It's out of my hands, I guess, but-_

"Guten tag!!"

Misato gasped as she rounded a corner and a large hand shot out, grabbing her by the shoulder. A heavy man, in heavy armor, was grinning down at her, and Misato barely had time to think, _This is it - this is the holding cell,_ before he was moving. Hot fire exploded in her stomach as the man drove his fist into her solar plexus, blasting the air from her lungs and nearly knocking her to her knees.

Nearly.

_Didn't... shoot me..._ she thought brokenly as the man drew his fist back for another hit, _big... mistake..._

Misato did not make the same mistake.

The man wore clamshell armor - full coverage, front and back... but Misato had not been director of operations for NERV without reason, and her track record clearly showed a knack for finding an enemy's weak point. With a breathless cry, she drove both of her guns forward, planting one at the shoulder joint and one where the helmet met the chest plate, quickly pulling the triggers. The first would take the man down - hard. The second would take him down permanently.

As luck would have it, the gun against his shoulder jammed... but the round at his throat penetrated the weaker material where the armor's plates met, sending the man to the floor with a gurgling moan. "Nothing personal," Misato muttered dryly, rubbing at her tenderized stomach and discarding the useless firearm with a disgusted grunt.

_"Misato..."_ a voice echoed in her mind, _"How can you be so cruel...?"_

_Cruel,_ she mused, her eyes following a thin line of blood as it snaked away from the man's body. _You have to be cruel to survive in this world, Shinji - can't you see that? ...no, I guess you can't - because you're in a goddamned COMA! At least you're alive. That has to count for something, right? Your life for my soul... it's pretty fair when you get right down to-_

"Katsuragi!"

Though it was her own name, Misato spun on the person calling out to her, bringing her remaining gun to bear in case these supposed 'two-bit terrorists' had intel as good as their armor.

"Whoa!" the man - Parrott - cried, raising his hands defensively. "It's me, Julius!"

Misato kept her gun on him for a moment, then lowered it. "Sorry," she murmured, her eyes scanning the area surrounding the small cell's door carefully, "thought you were my ex-boyfriend."

Parrott barked a nervous laugh, trying to take in every detail of the room while keeping Misato in plain sight. "Must have been a hell of a guy."

"Mm," Misato hummed noncommittally. "Who's with you? You had Fryeburg and Uchiha in your cell, didn't you? Where are they?"

Moving closer to her, Parrott grunted, "Fryeburg stepped on a landmine, Uchiha caught a round to the side of the head... scream never left his mouth." He lifted his chin towards Misato. "How about you? You were with Sloan and Gutierrez, weren't you?"

Misato shook her head. "They never even touched down," she said flatly, nodding to the jammed weapon she had just discarded, "that was Sloan's... but I think this is where they're keeping the girl, so let's-"

"So it's just the two of us??" Parrott blurted, going deathly pale.

"It WAS a two cell operation," Misato pointed out, "two times three, minus four - yeah, it's just the two of us."

"Christ..."

"Doubt he had anything to do with it. Cover me, I'm getting her out."

Parrott nodded, slipping gratefully into the role of subordinate and putting his back to the wall as Misato tried the door. "Locked?" he asked nervously, his eyes sweeping the dead body on the ground. "I don't see a key ring."

"Neither do I," Misato replied curtly, glancing at the old-fashioned iron door critically. "Can you pick the lock? You ARE in I.G., aren't you?"

_Information Gathering_, she mused as the man considered the request, _a fancy way to say 'the spy division.' Well, kid, your profile said you were one of the best... hope it wasn't just you trying to pad your resume._

"Might take a few minutes," Parrott said finally, looking a bit sick as he glanced at the huge padlock hanging from the door.

"A few minutes, I've got," Misato mumbled, gesturing to the lock and moving out of his way. Then, taking a glance at the sweat on the man's face, she whispered, "Easy, Julius... just stick with me, I'll bring you home."

The relief in Parrott's eyes was too stark to hide. "Y-yes, ma'am," he stammered, reaching into the pouch on his belt and pulling out a small bundle. "Thank you, ma'am."

"How old are you?" Misato asked - more to make conversation than anything else, since she had carefully screened the candidates for this mission for five hours straight before choosing her team. She knew his skill set, aptitude test scores (some of the highest in the bunch), and several details about his personal life.

Keeping him talking was just a way to distract him from the fact that there were only two of them left, and that number could be cut in half at a millisecond's notice.

"Twenty-two, ma'am," Parrott replied, unrolling the bundle on the floor and selecting two slender picks from it before kneeling on the hard, stone floor in front of the door. "You?"

Misato scowled. "Thirty," she muttered, "today."

Parrott glanced up at her uncertainly. "Seriously?" he asked awkwardly. "They sent you on a mission on your birthday??"

"I volunteered," Misato replied quietly.

"God, why?!"

Misato's eyes grew hazy and distant. "Have to get in a certain amount of combat hours," she whispered, lowering her voice still further as her mind took her back into the past, "have a promise I have to keep..."

_"They want us for how long?" Misato erupted. "You've gotta be kidding me!!"_

_Ritsuko shook her head, setting a single sheet of paper on the desk in front of her old college mate. "Not even a little," she said gravely. "Makoto and Aoba have already agreed and been deployed... we're the only two that haven't made up their mind."_

_Misato slumped in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. "What about Ibuki?" she asked listlessly._

_"She wasn't invited," Ritsuko murmured. "It seems there was some question as to her ability to stay calm in a pressure situation."_

_This drew a sad chuckle from the purple-haired woman as she glanced at the paper. "Like we thought. So... did you talk to her?" she asked hesitantly, scared to hear the word 'no' come out of the blonde's mouth. "What did she say?"_

_Ritsuko did not keep her waiting long. "She'll do it," she said softly, "but I had to do some fast talking."_

_"What?" Misato asked, surprised by this detail. "Why?? Maya's usually so timid, I can't imagine her giving you backtalk, even if she doesn't technically work for you anymore."_

_Slowly Ritsuko folded her arms. "This isn't the same as asking her to debug a database," she replied carefully, "she'll be responsible for the care of three teenagers with varying degrees of emotional instability." She pursed her lips. "Of course, because we're doing what we're doing, they'll be left alone, but it's still a pretty tall order - and I couldn't make it a REAL order, since she's not my subordinate anymore."_

_Misato frowned. "Still," she said, unconvinced, "I thought she'd be happy to help, especially since-"_

_"Say it," Ritsuko murmured, her eyes flashing as Misato cut herself off. "Go ahead."_

_"Especially since she... cares for you," Misato said awkwardly._

_There was a heavy silence as Ritsuko gave Misato a hard stare. Finally, she pulled her gaze away, getting back to the subject by saying, "She didn't complain about HAVING to take them, Misato - she was more than happy to do it... but she was afraid that she wouldn't be ABLE to do it, and she practically begged me to find someone more responsible."_

_"Oh," Misato whispered. Abruptly, she laughed. "Whoever thought we'd NEED to have her take care of them...?" she mused tiredly. "Three months ago, if you asked me, I would have told you that when things were all over, I'd take Shinji - and Asuka, if she wanted to go - and find some place quiet to hide out and forget all about EVAs and battles and SEELE and everything else. Now look at me - working for the very people that tried to kill us all. Tell me, Ritsu - what does that make me?"_

_Ritsuko's face was entirely serious as she replied, "Everyone has to pay the ferryman eventually, Misa... our turn just happened to come up a little early."_

"Got it!"

Parrott's announcement brought Misato back to the present. "Outstanding," she said, quickly deducing that praise and assurances were about the only thing that would keep the young man from breaking down. "Stand over there, so you'll be behind the door when it opens."

"Yes, ma'am," Parrott nodded, quickly gathering his lockpicks and stuffing them back into their pouch. "Ok, I'm clear."

Misato nodded, raising her handgun and moving to the opposite side of the door. Keeping her weapon up near her eyes, she reached out and wrapped her hand around the heavy padlock, easing it out of the iron loop that it hung from and setting it carefully on the ground.

As she was reaching for the doorknob, however, it began to turn, clicking free of the latch with a loud snap. She bared her teeth, stepping back and holding her free hand up in a tightly clenched fist, signaling Parrott to stay still and leveling her gun at the slowly widening gap between the door and its frame.

_Better stay low,_ Misato thought, immediately dropping into a crouch in case the person on the other side of the door was as cautious as she was. _Here it comes...!_

The door flew outward with a sudden screech of poorly-oiled hinges, and Misato's gun hand shot forward, her finger halfway down on the trigger before she realized that the reason the door had spilled open was the small, pale blonde haired girl lying on her side on the stone floor, clutching something small and furry to her chest as she hitched in a huge, terrified breath.

"Shh!" Misato said quickly, her forefinger flying to her lips as the girl scrambled back up against the open door. "Shh, shhh!! It's ok - we're here to take you home."

"N-n!" the girl gasped, staring from Parrott - who had just appeared from around the other side of the door - to Misato, squeezing the stuffed animal in her hands so tight that Misato thought it might explode.

In a flash, the girl flung herself at Misato, clutching her desperately and shaking all over as a wretched cry tore its way free of her emaciated chest. _God,_ Misato thought sickly, _they've been starving her..._

"Big Bang to Echo Six, do you read?"

Misato jumped at the unexpected burst of noise, instinctively wrapping one arm around the little girl's shoulders as they continued to heave with sobs. "Echo Six to Big Bang, I'm here," she replied, gesturing for Parrott to move closer as she awkwardly backed herself up against the wall.

"Prepare for extraction," the person on the other end of the line said briskly. "Please report current location and status of insertion team."

"Current location is position six," Misato said coolly, gently patting the girl on the back as her crying trailed off into sniffles. "Primary objective has been obtained."

"Understood," came the somehow flat reply, "and your team?"

Hesitating, Misato glanced first at Parrott, then down to the gun in her hand. "Echo Two is the only survivor other than me."

There was a brief pause. "Understood. Please make your way to location seven for extraction. Big Bang - out."

Misato frowned. _Why didn't she ask how the girl was doing?_ she thought, troubled by this omission.

Shrugging the thought off as trivial, she turned to Parrott. "You ready to go home?" she asked, feeling the girl's hold on her tighten.

"Ma'am, hell yes, ma'am," Parrott replied fervently.

"You and me both, brother," Misato muttered, carefully disentangling herself from the little girl's grip and kneeling in front of her to meet her haunted eyes. "We're going to get you out of here, honey," she said quietly, brushing a long streak of dirt off the girl's cheek, "but I need you to hold on to me and be as quiet as you can, alright?" When the girl simply stared, Misato rubbed the bridge of her nose, setting her gun on the floor and reaching into her belt pouch. "Tell me now if you can be quiet for me," she whispered, pulling out a small hypodermic needle. "If you can't... I'll have to give you a little shot so you can sleep, do you understand?"

The girl's vividly blue eyes were wide as saucers, and as they locked onto the hypo, she took a step back, bumping into Parrott's legs as she quickly shook her head from side to side.

_Stupid,_ Misato cursed herself, surveying the girl's tattered, filth-encrusted nightgown. _She's been here a week and a half, and they probably kept her drugged up the whole time... she knows what needles do. Oh well - I don't have time to be subtle._

"Can you be quiet for me?" she asked gently, slipping the hypo back into the pouch. "You're a big girl right? Just turned nine three days ago - I know, because I read it in your profile. You know that I'm here to help you... right?"

Slowly, the girl's eyes grew a bit smaller, though her bottom lip was clearly trembling as she nodded, more tears slipping from her eyelids as she stepped away from Parrott and stuck her right arm out, sniffling softly and tensing her body in preparation for a fresh burst of pain.

"What are you... oh," Misato gently took the girl's hand and drew her closer, "oh, I don't have to give you the shot if you're going to be good," she said soothingly. "You're a big girl, aren't you? I know you can be quiet for me, right?"

Hesitantly, the girl nodded.

"Captain," Parrott whispered, shaking his head as Misato rose to her feet, "with all due respect, ma'am, maybe it would be better to just give her the shot."

The girl was instantly tense again, whirling around to face Parrott with an accusing look on her face as she pushed herself tightly against Misato's legs.

"I said I'd bring you home, didn't I?" Misato said quietly, waiting for Parrott's reluctant nod before murmuring, "I understand your concern, but if one of us carries her, that cuts our effective firepower in half. And besides," she ruffled the girl's hair playfully, "she's going to be as quiet as a mouse, aren't you honey?"

Breaking into a tentative smile, the girl gave an eager nod.

Parrott shrugged, seeing that in spite of the light tone in the woman's voice, her eyes were deathly serious. "You're the boss," he said easily, glancing down at the little girl and offering her his hand. "No hard feelings, kid."

Misato laughed as the girl pulled in closer to her and stuck her tongue out at the young soldier. "You've offended her," she chuckled as Parrott looked stricken, quickly growing serious as she crouched down to pick up her handgun. "Ok, here's the plan - we're gonna head down route seven until we hit the extraction point, standard single-file formation, with the girl in the middle."

"Who's on point?" Parrott asked.

Unbidden, another voice rose up from Misato's past.

_"Well it's only fair that the bravest number one highest synchro rate holder of them all should take the lead. Or are you scared?"_

_"I'm... I'm not scared! I can do it! In fact - I'll show you how it OUGHT to be done!"_

_"WHAT??"_

Shaking her head, Misato thought, _What was it Asuka said during that fight? That's right - scoring high on tests doesn't mean anything if you can't apply it in the real world._

"I'll take point, you bring up the rear."

"Yes, ma'am."

As they lined up, the girl took hold of the back of Misato's flak jacket, her small hand bunching the fabric until her knuckles cracked. _Well,_ Misato thought pragmatically, _I don't think I'll have to worry about losing her._

Moving quickly, the trio wended their way through the narrow stone hallways, ducking into the shadows at every intersection and waiting breathlessly as several times, a small group of armed men hurried past, their eyes hard and set as they marched off to whatever dark task they had been assigned.

_This isn't just a 'splinter group,' _Misato thought angrily as another knot of hard, dangerous-looking men trooped past the alcove the Echoes were tucked into, _this is a goddamned army! Simple snatch-and-grab operation my ass - if I get my hands on the dimwit that provided intel on this place, I swear I'll wring his fu-_

"This place is huge," Parrott muttered, cutting into Misato's thoughts. "Shouldn't there be an alarm or something, though? I mean, we've killed a bunch of their guys and stolen their prisoner... shouldn't someone be looking for us?"

Misato frowned, nodding slowly as she idly patted the girl's hand. "Yeah," she whispered, "that's been bothering me too. We must have killed the guards before they could warn anyone else."

Parrott shook his head doubtfully. "Even if that's true," he said insistently, "wouldn't they have found the bodies by now?"

"I don't know," Misato admitted. "I just don't know."

_We're definitely screwed,_ she thought dismally, keeping this observation to herself to avoid panicking her two companions. _They HAVE to know we're here; they have to know we have the girl, and they have to know we're-_

"...trying to get out."

"What's that, ma'am?"

Misato's lips were set in a grim line. "Can I see your arm again, honey?" she whispered, crouching down in front of the girl and holstering her handgun. She held up her hands as the girl flinched away, showing that they were empty. "I just wanna see," she said quickly, "you're being good, I don't need to make you sleep... I just need to see something, ok?"

Obediently - but with a clear air of reluctance - the girl pulled her sleeve up, showing her thin arm.

"Oh God," Parrott breathed, "how long... how long was she here??"

Making no reply, Misato ran her fingers over the numerous puncture wounds in the girl's arm, wincing as the girl flinched, but held stoically still. "...damn it."

_There it is,_ she thought with a sudden burst of tiredness as she ran the tip of her forefinger across a tiny bump on the girl's upper arm.

'Sub-dermal tracker,' she mouthed, tapping the upraised skin with her forefinger.

Parrott's eyes widened and he immediately raised his gun, looking all around as if he expected hundreds of soldiers to come boiling up out of the rock, howling for blood. He blushed, feeling a bit foolish as Misato rolled her eyes.

"Sorry."

Motioning him closer, Misato whispered, "They've been listening this whole time... probably planning to track us all the way back to our evac chopper and find out where we go so they can figure out who hit them. I don't think they planned it all along - this seems more like an afterthought, just in case anyone actually managed to get her back."

"You sure?" Parrott asked tensely. "Does that mean we're stuck here?? I mean, we can't just shut it down - they'll know!"

Misato shook her head, a grin slowly spreading over her features as she suddenly saw the bright side to their situation. "Come on," she said briskly, rising to her feet and taking the girl's hand as she raised her voice, "if we follow this passage, it should lead us straight out of the west side of the compound."

Parrott's face went white. "What are you doing?!" he hissed, staying on Misato's other side and pitching his voice low to avoid having it picked up by the bug. "You're giving us away!"

"Wrong," Misato shot back just as softly, "I'm clearing us a passage right out of here. See, the way I figure it, they must know that they're dealing with professionals - and professionals never talk if they're caught... so they need us to make it out of here thinking we've gotten away with it. That way they can track the implant all the way to wherever we go and launch an attack there."

Slowly, Parrott nodded, his expression lightening as he urgently whispered, "So if we let them know where we're heading-"

"-they'll get out of the way," Misato completed the thought.

"Almost sounds too easy," the young soldier pointed out.

Misato nodded, her smile fading as she said, "Yeah, well, once we get out, we can't let it stay active... and as soon as we kill it, they'll be on us like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat."

Parrott grimaced. "Vivid," he muttered dryly.

"Life's a bitch," Misato said wisely, "we just need to stay under her radar for a while."

The march through the compound was eerily quiet, the soft thump of their footfalls and the faint hum of buried machinery the only sound echoing off the walls as they continued in their single-file marching order - to keep up appearances. Once, Parrott thought he saw one of the terrorist soldiers watching them from a side tunnel, but when he'd turned his head, there was nothing there but air.

"We're almost there," Misato said in a mock whisper, nodding to the opening thirty meters in front of them. "I think we're clear once we get out - we just need to walk to the helicopter."

"Easy," Parrott replied, getting into the game, "they're so stupid I'll bet they won't even notice we were here until the sun comes up."

Misato nodded her approval of this improvisation, and together, they marched out into the rock-strewn desert landscape. _Ok,_ Misato thought, scanning the terrain, _some rocks... some scrub brush - not much cover. Hopefully they give us enough of a leadoff._

"Here we go."

Pretending that she was throwing caution the wind, Misato rose to her full height and strode purposefully towards location seven - their evac point. She spoke in a loud and boastful voice, telling Natasha all about how she was sure to get a promotion for bringing her home, and how easy the whole thing had been.

Not the subtlest deception, she admitted, but as long as it bought them a little space - and maybe got under a few skins - it was well worth the wasted air.

"I see it," Parrott hissed after several minutes of walking. "Just up ahead."

Misato scanned the horizon, nodding as she came to a stop and pretending to dig a rock out of her shoe. "Hopefully, they'll be relying on the tracker," she whispered, keeping her voice low to avoid having it picked up by the bug. "They wouldn't want to spook us, right?"

Parrott nodded vigorously. "Right," he said firmly, "so that'll give us a few extra seconds."

"Exactly," Misato confirmed, "be ready... and when I give the word - run like hell."

"Got it!"

"This is going to hurt a bit," Misato said softly, turning her attention to the girl and putting her thumb over the transmitter, "can you be brave for me?"

"...ok."

Misato stopped for a moment... and a slow smile spread over her face as she looked into the girl's trusting eyes. "That's the first time I've heard your voice," she said gently, "it's pretty." Very slowly, she stretched out her left arm, offering her wrist to the girl as she whispered, "Here, bite down if it hurts too bad - if you scream... if you scream, they'll come to us faster, do you understand?"

Parrott had to look the other way as Misato began pressing on the implant, unable to take the expression of pain on the girl's face as the chip dug deeper into her skin. After what felt like forever, he heard the dull snap of breaking plastic, and the girl uttered a muffled 'MM!' of pain.

"...ow."

Glancing back around, Parrott found Misato pulling her wrist from the girl's mouth, and even in the relative darkness of predawn, he could see the rich glint of blood around pressure-whitened flesh - a clearly visible series of tooth marks showing up in sharp contrast to the woman's healthy, peach-hued skin.

_What ARE you?_ he thought, awed by the woman's grit as she smiled warmly at the girl, seemingly oblivious to the pain and blood that was even then dripping down her injured wrist.

"Son of a bitch!"

The trio jerked around at the cry, a bush - far closer than Misato had anticipated - rustling as a platoon of soldiers burst from it, their weapons drawn and their faces set into hard masks of determination.

"Go - GO!"

Parrott did not need to be told twice. With a grunt, he lowered his head, looking at the ground in front of him, and pounded towards the waiting chopper.

"Come on, honey," Misato said urgently, holstering her gun and scooping the girl into her arms. "Hold on tight."

Gunfire split the night apart, bullets peppering the rocks all around them as they sprinted for the chopper.

"Call for fire support!" Misato shouted, "As soon as we're on board, have the gunner cut those bastards in half!"

Weighed down by the girl in her arms, Misato's running speed was much lower than it normally would have been. _Damn it, _she thought, watching Parrott pulling away, _don't you leave me, kid! We have to be-_

"-careful!"

Misato's cry came just in time, and Parrott dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the bullet aimed at his chest. He rolled with the dive, coming back up with his gun braced in both hands and firing wildly at the single soldier standing in his way.

_Pincer,_ Misato thought deliriously, _just one guy, but damn it - this isn't good._

"Drop your weapons," the man called in halting English, steadying his gun and drawing the girl's head into his sights. "You can't esca- aahhh!!"

Misato's eyes widened, and she dropped to the ground, covering the girl's body with her own as the chaingun on the evac chopper's nose opened up, blitzing the soldier with a hail of depleted uranium shells - pulverizing his chest in a matter of seconds.

"Echo Six," a woman's voice burst in Misato's ear, "this is Echo Thirteen... we've got you. Come on home."

Relief flooded Misato as she got cautiously to her feet. The platoon that had been pursuing them had taken cover, leaving the terrain behind them oddly barren and desolate. Only the bushes moved, blown by a light breeze as Misato hurried to the waiting chopper and climbed aboard, gratefully accepting Parrott's hand as he helped her clamber up.

As the chopper's blades picked up speed, lifting the heavy carrier into the sky, Misato risked a look out the window.

All she could see was the rocks... the underbrush... and the body of the lone soldier, lying on his back in a slowly spreading pool of his own blood. _That could have been me,_ Misato thought numbly, unconsciously wrapping her right arm around the girl's shoulders as she began to sniffle again, _a second or two later, and it WOULD have been me..._

Tightening her hold, she brought the girl into a gentle embrace, holding her close as the helicopter's nose dipped forwards toward the lightening sky.

- - -

"Now... you wanna run that by me again?!"

Big Bang, AKA Ritsuko Akagi, kept her eyes focused on her computer terminal, entering data from the mission at a blinding speed as Misato glared down at her, her arms folded in a clear stance of high anger. "You heard me," the blonde said calmly, "I said the mission was a wash - you should have pulled out as soon as I gave the order."

Misato glanced over at the place where the girl (_Natasha,_ she reminded herself mentally, _she's not just a target now, she has a name_) was being checked over by one of the medics on the aircraft carrier that was the staging area for the mission they had just undertaken. At that moment, she was receiving a vitamin shot to recover some of the nutrients that had been sapped from her body by the cruel conditions of her captivity. The girl flinched but made no complaint as the medic continued examining her, her free hand stuffing a second military-issue energy bar into her hungry mouth so fast that Misato almost wanted to tell her to count her fingers.

So far, the medic had informed Misato, Natasha seemed in generally good health. She was underweight, of course, but she had not be physically or sexually abused in any way the medic could see, though he did recommend a more thorough physical when they returned to dry land - just to be sure.

_Animals,_ Misato thought viciously, glancing at the girl's grubby little teddy bear. _I hope they bomb the whole damn place from here to Kingdom Come!_ Her eyes shot to the back of Ritsuko's head, narrowing dangerously. _And you're no better!_

"So you're saying I should have left her there."

"Well, knowing your temper, I didn't want to put it so bluntly," Ritsuko replied levelly, "but that's the essence of my point, yes."

Misato waved her bandaged hand dismissively as the medic announced that he had done all he could do and asked if they needed him for anything else. "You heartless bitch!" she snapped, ignoring the medic's wince. "She would have died back there - how can you even SAY that??"

"She's going to die either way."

"WHAT?!"

Ritsuko shrugged slightly, still keeping her eyes on the screen as she said, "Word came in halfway through the mission that her parents were assassinated... so our illustrious employers are washing their hands of the whole affair."

"So they're just going to feed her to the dogs?" Misato demanded, glancing at the girl as she brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She looked so tiny, the woman thought, especially in the baggy, size XX-small jumpsuit someone had found for her.

"Don't be so melodramatic," Ritsuko mumbled, Misato's attention back to the conversation at hand, "she'll go into foster care, probably get adopted, and live a full life. You did good. You saved her. Happy?"

Misato's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "NO!" she screamed, "No, I'm not HAPPY! She'll PROBABLY get adopted?! She'll have a full life? I SAVED HER? What the hell is the matter with you?!"

The other woman's lips compressed into a thin line, but she said nothing.

"You listen to me," Misato said, her voice quaking with rage, "we lost four good men - damn good men - trying to get that little girl home, and now you're telling me she doesn't have a home to go back to? Have you forgotten why we're HERE??"

Ritsuko's fingers froze above the keyboard, and as she turned around, her green eyes were as hard and cold as frozen emerald chips. "No," she said icily, "I haven't. Have you? That girl," she said, stabbing her finger towards Natasha, "is NOT Asuka - do you understand? Saving her will not make up for the damage you helped inflict on Asuka, it won't erase the anguish you caused Shinji, and it most assuredly will NOT save your soul, Misato, so stop getting all high and mighty and let it GO!"

Misato's lips pulled back from her teeth. "You've changed," she snarled angrily, "you're not the person I used to know."

"I'm here, aren't I?" Ritsuko replied tersely. "I'm here with you, paying the price ever damn day for what we helped do to those children, and trying to dig into SEELE's files to help you find out who killed Kaji - when they let me near a computer, that is, because God forbid I should try to hack into the MAGI and blow Headquarters sky-high before they can wring everything they can from Project-E."

She gestured around the cramped compartment with a slender hand. "Normally I'm running backup for missions like this, which is fine, at least I get to feel useful - but I can't save every unfortunate person that I come across, Misato, and neither can you. I've already got enough guilt and pressure weighing me down - I can't bear the burden for ANOTHER life, Misa... can't you understand that?"

Seeing the powerlessness in her old friend's eyes, Misato felt her anger draining away. "Yes," she said quietly, "I can understand that." Slowly, she stepped back and put a hand on Natasha's shoulder. "But I think... I have room for one more burden."

Ritsuko snorted. "You're crazy," she said coldly, spinning her chair back to face her terminal, "for wanting to hold on to someone you don't know when there are already a dozen others relying on you, and for thinking that girl would WANT to live the kind of life you could offer her - crazy as a loon. Look at her," she whispered, "she's so shell-shocked she hasn't even said one word since you brought her in - I don't even think she knows who she is, let alone what's happening to her."

"You're wrong."

"Whatever."

Carefully, Misato knelt down by the cot Natasha was sitting on, meeting the girl's eyes steadily as she whispered, "Natasha... honey... DO you understand what's happening here...?"

"You're wasting your time," Ritsuko sighed, shaking her head dismissively, "wasting your time..."

"Natasha," Misato said soothingly, "I have to know, honey... do you know what's going on, or not?"

The girl's eyes darted to Ritsuko's back for a moment before slowly coming back to focus on Misato's face. Hesitantly, her mouth opened, and a soft, "Yes..." came from somewhere in the back of her rusty, disused throat.

Misato shot Ritsuko a triumphant glance. "And... you understand what's happened to your family...?"

Natasha's face crumpled, and she stared down at her hands - still dirty, even after several attempts to wash them. Her voice, however, was low and steady as she whispered, "Yes... they... they died, right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Misato replied gently, covering the girl's hand with her own. "There's not a good place for you to go right now, honey, but if you want to... you can stay with me for a while. Would you like that?" When the girl nodded, her eyes shining with tears, Misato rose to her feet.

"I'm keeping her, Ritsu."

Ritsuko shook her head. "She's not a puppy, Misato," she muttered, hitting Enter and sending the battle report to their superiors at SEELE, their reluctantly accepted employers. "Look, I feel just as bad for what happened to those Children as you do, which is why I agreed to these horrible terms of employment - it was the only way to keep them safe. ...but no matter how much you might want to, you can't just snap your fingers and 'have' the daughter of an assassinated politico!"

"I can't," Misato said coolly, "but you can."

Her back going rigid, Ritsuko said, "Forget-"

"You're right," Misato cut in quickly, "she's not Asuka... but imagine what Asuka might have been like if she hadn't been forced to grow up all alone. Imagine what she could have achieved with a living mother, or a father that actually cared. I'm not asking you to help me take care of her, Ritsu - but for all that you hold precious, help me make sure she doesn't have to grow up like Asuka... alone... hurting... scared... forced to believe that the only person she could ever turn to was herse-"

"Shut up!!" Ritsuko shouted, covering her ears with her hands. "Just... just shut up...!"

Misato closed her mouth, fearing that she might have gone too far. _Damn it,_ she thought, nearly slapping herself in the forehead, _I was so caught up in trying to convince her that I completely forgot Ritsuko grew up that way too. Coldhearted, workaholic mother... absentee father... I knew it all, and I just plowed right on ahead. God, I'm a bitch! _

Slowly, the blonde brought her hands away from her ears, tapping silently on the keyboard for several minutes before mumbling, "Natasha Katsuragi..." her lips so stiff they barely moved

"Thanks, Ritsu," Misato said, relief washing over her like a soothing balm, "I really-"

"Get out," Ritsuko whispered unevenly. "I want to be alone."

Her elation fading, Misato stepped forward and laid a hand gently on her friend's shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze. "Come on, honey," she said gently, gesturing for the little girl to follow her, "let's go."

Natasha followed her out the door, glancing over her shoulder as the hard-eyed woman at the computer terminal buried her face in her hands, her back hunching with barely repressed sobs.

Once in the hallway, Misato turned to the girl, but before she could speak, someone called out to her.

"Oh, Captain!"

She turned as Parrott flagged her down. "Lieutenant," she said, clasping his hand warmly, "nice to see you again."

"Feeling's mutual," the soldier said, offering a crisp salute. "Here, I brought you your gun back. You gave it to me for ordinance check, remember?"

"Oh, right," Misato said, "thanks for doing that for me, I had some... stuff I had to take care of."

Beaming, the young man snapped another salute. "It was a pleasure, ma'am," he said honestly, "and umm..."

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Thanks for bringing me home."

Misato nodded. "It was your first mission, wasn't it?" she asked shrewdly. "You doctored the papers to say it was your third."

Averting his gaze, Parrott murmured, "Y-yes, ma'am... you're not going to turn me in, are you?"

"Nope," Misato said firmly, "just make sure it's corrected before the next time I need you. You really saved me out there - I never would have gotten that lock open myself, and if you hadn't pointed out how easy it was getting through there, I wouldn't have even thought to look for the implant."

"You know, there's something I wanted to ask you about that, ma'am," Parrott said slowly.

"And what's that?"

"Well, I was just wondering why you broke it before we got to the chopper. Wouldn't it have made more sense to wait until we were onboard?"

Misato glanced uneasily at the little girl, beckoning the man closer and lowering her voice for his ears alone. "I couldn't be sure," she said hesitantly. "I couldn't be sure that... it didn't have a micro-explosive in it. If there was any chance that it could detonate, I couldn't risk endangering any other personnel."

Parrott looked as if he had not even considered this a possibility. "But if there had been," he pointed out, "she would have lost her arm at least - and probably been killed... taking you with."

Nodding somberly, Misato whispered, "That's why I had you step back, Lieutenant... I wanted at least one of us to make it out."

His teeth clenching against the sudden rush of gratitude in his gut, Parrott whispered, "It was an honor working with you, ma'am. I look forward to the next time."

"Carry on," Misato said with a salute, nodding to herself as the young man turned and headed back the way he had come. "Nice guy, isn't he?" she asked Natasha, ruffling her hair affectionately and trying to pretend that she had not risked blowing her arm off and possibly killing her.

As the girl nodded, Misato spun her handgun around by the trigger-guard, bringing it to her holster, but hesitating as she felt something odd along the side of the barrel.

Hefting it, she frowned. _What the..._

Misato let out a long sigh as she turned the weapon over, catching sight of the words 'F. Sloan - 2010' carved into the side of the gun's slide. It was her own firearm that had jammed, she realized with a shiver. If she had not stopped to scoop Sloan's up on instinct, she would have been killed by the terrorist in the clamshell armor.

"Thanks, Sloan," she whispered, carefully slipping the gun into her holster. "I'll try to take care of it for you, ok?"

_Sloan, _she thought tiredly, _Mother... Father... Kaji... everyone. All of you watch over me, alright? I'm doing my best..._

Putting a hand on Natasha's shoulder, she led the girl to the stairs, following her up onto the aircraft carrier's deck and squinting as the bright rays of the newly risen sun stung at her eyes. A new day was starting, and from everything Misato could see... it was going to be much brighter than the one before.

Continued...

**Author's Notes:** (2004-10-22)

I don't really know what to note on this one, other than to comment on taking so long to get going on it. Once I had a direction, it didn't take too long to write - it was just taking that first step! It was daunting to try to fit a whole, Misato-based story into the framework of someone else's romance/drama series while still maintaining my own particular style, so it was hard to get moving, and I put it off as long as I could. Blah... I guess I'm making excuses again, so I'll just say sorry it took so long and shut up about it now.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this installment of The Courage to Live On. Watch for the next chapter, coming sooner than this one to a screen near you.

-Random

Pre-read assistance on this selection was provided by the Studio 402 regulars: A. Amishi, Akodo Tim, Ayanami-chan, Fenrir, Dennisud, and ReiIkari - all of whom where invaluable in keeping me at least mostly on track. Thanks y'all!!


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